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Dr.  Warren  Asa  Belding. 


BIOGRAPHY 

....OF.... 

Dr.  W.  a.   Belding, 

Including   Sixty  Years  of  Ministerial 
Pioneer  Work. 

WRITTEN    BY 

HIS    GRANDSON,  W.   S.  BELDING. 

« 
♦♦♦♦ 


CINCINNATI,    O.: 

JOHN  F.   ROWE,   Publisher. 

1897. 


Copyright,  1897, 
BY  W.  A.  BELDING. 


BIOGRAPHY  OF  DR.  WARREN  ASA 
BELDING. 

Written  by  His   Grandson  and  Namesake ^   War- 
ren S.  B elding,    October,   i8g6. 

This  little  work  is  written  in  response  to  the 
request  of  numerous  friends  of  my  grandfather's. 
They  have  said  that  there  are  many  persons  who, 
charmed  with  what  they  have  seen  of  the  simple 
purity  and  unselfishness  of  his  life,  would  fain 
know  more  of  its  details  and  incidents.  No 
startling  or  thrilling  adventures  have  occurred 
therein,  but  the  story  is  of  a  man  of  remarkable 
abilities  in  financiering  for  philanthropic  and 
Christian  work — remarkable  also  for  his  success 
in  evangelizing. 

During  the  sixty-odd  years  devoted  to  minis- 
terial work,  he  has  immersed,  with  his  own  hands, 
between  eleven  and  twelve  thousand  persons. 
Besides  this,  the  raising  of  funds  for  colleges  and 
schools,  and  the  erection  of  and  paying  for  numer- 
ous churches  scattered  all  over  this  land,  has 
engaged  his  time.  From  Maine  to  California, 
and  southward  to  Florida  and  Mississippi,  there 
is  hardly  a  State  that  has  not  been  the  scene  of 
his  labors  at  some  time  during  his  busy  life.  It 
is  asserted  that  no  man  among  the  Disciples  of 
Christ  is  personally  known  to  as  many  brethren 
as  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 

The  record  of  one  year,  as  shown  by  its  diary, 
(III)  , 


IV  PREFACE. 

is  remarkable  for  its  results.  He  was  then  corre- 
sponding secretary  of  the  General  Christian  Mis- 
sionary Society,  and  also  its  financial  agent.  That 
year  he  raised  twenty  thousand  dollars  in  money 
and  pledges,  wrote  two  thousand  letters,  received 
and  read  four  thousand  letters,  and  traveled  about 
twenty  thousand  miles.  This  is  undoubtedly  his 
gre'atest  year  measured  by  visible  results,  but 
there  are  several  years  in  which  he  traveled  fully 
as  much. 

If  T  succeed  in  presenting  to  the  reader  a  true 
picture  of  the  character  and  work  of  my  grand- 
father, I  am  satisfied  that  it  will  be  interesting 
reading,  especially  to  those  who,  by  association 
with  him,  have  caught  a  glimpse  of  the  purity, 
simplicity  and  loving  kindness  which  have  been 
the  natural  characteristics  governing  his  life. 

The  writer  has  had  the  advantage  of  access  to 
his  grandfather's  diaries,  some  forty-six  in  num- 
ber, covering  the  entire  period  from  1850  to  the 
present  year  1896.  An  idea  of  the  methodical 
habits  of  the  doctor  may  be  had  when  I  state  that 
not  a  volume  is  missing.  When  asked  if  he  could 
find  his  diaries  for  my  use,  the  response  was, 
"  Yes,  sir,"  and  they  were  immediately  produced 
in  good  condition  and  in  consecutive  order. 

I  have  also  had  the  good  fortune  to  acquire 
some  manuscript  written  by  my  father,  most  of 
which  is  from  recollections  dictated  or  told  by 
grandfather  in  the  hours  when  his  mind  went 
back  to  his  earlier  days.  Some  manuscript  from 
Bro.    Walter  S.   Hayden  is  also    acknowledged. 


PREFACE.  V 

He  once  undertook  this  work,  but  gave  it  up  for 
lack  of  time. 

But  last  and  most  helpful  of  all  has  been  the 
loving  assistance  of  grandfather  himself,  without 
which  I  doubt  not  that  many  mistakes  would  have 
been  made,  as  the  diaries  before  spoken  of  were 
not  designed  by  their  writer  to  form  the  basis  of 
a  work  of  this  kind  ;  hence  many  things  were 
omitted  which  were  essential  to  a  full  understand- 
ing of  their  contents. 

The  preparing  of  this  work  for  publication  has 
been  a  "  labor  of  love  "  on  my  part,  and,  though 
hampered  by  the  lack  of  a  literary  education,  and 
obliged  to  write  in  time  taken  from  my  business, 
still  I  hope  that  all  may  feel  repaid  for  the  time 
spent  in  its  perusal. 

WARREN  S.  BELDING. 


INTRODUCTION. 

It  is  well  that  this  book  has  been  written .  The 
life  of  its  central  figure  spans  the  entire  history 
of  "the  current  reformation."  His  ministerial 
experience  dates  from  an  early  period  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  Disciples  of  Christ.  He  was  a  com- 
panion of  many  of  the  mighty  men  who,  under 
God,  were  agents  in  the  inauguration  of  a  move- 
ment for  the  union  of  Christians  in  order  to  the 
evangelization  of  the  world  by  a  return,  in  faith 
and  life,  to  the  religion  described  on  the  pages  of 
the  New  Testament.  The  incidents  in  this  long 
and  unusually  busy  life,  recorded  in  this  volume, 
throw  not  a  little  light  on  the  early  history  of  the 
Disciples.  To  read  them  will  enable  one,  in  im- 
agination, to  live  in  the  midst  of  the  stirring 
scenes  of  those  early  years.  This  will  be  of  prac- 
tical value.  Inspiration  to  more  intelligent  and 
heroic  endeavor  in  behalf  of  the  Christianity  of 
Christ  will  follow.  The  time,  in  our  growth, 
has  come  for  the  publication  of  such  records.  Too 
many  of  our  aged  men,  pioneers  in  this  good 
work,  have  passed  from  earth  without  telling  the 
story  of  their  trials  and  triumphs.  Our  poverty 
is  greater  on  account  of  this  failure .  Such  simple 
narratives  will  possess,  in  years  to  come,  great 
value  to  the  writers  of  history.  Those  who  are 
now  coming  into  the  work  of  the  ministry,  and 
into  the  fellowship  of  the  churches  of  Christ, 
have,  as  a  rule,  an  exceedingly  imperfect  under- 

(VI) 


INTRODUCTION.  VII 

Standing  of  the  condition  of  the  body  of  Christ 
in  the  United  States  from  thirty  to  sixty  or 
seventy-five  years  ago.  They  are  ignorant  of 
the  conditions  out  of  which  came  the  religious 
communion  known  as  the  Christian  Church  or 
Disciples  of  Christ.  There  is  therefore  a  failure 
to  discern  the  good  hand  of.  our  God,  and  to  real- 
ize that  this  movement  is  a  child  of  Providence. 
The  pioneers  were  mighty  men,  some  of  them 
mental  giants,  all  of  them  moral  heroes,  to  whom 
was  committed,  by  the  Head  of  the  body,  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord,  a  special  message  and  mission. 
No  man  can  fully  understand  what  we  call  ' '  the 
current  reformation  ' '  who  is  not  acquainted  with 
the  facts  connected  with  its  origin.  These  ex- 
plain its  spirit,  purpose,  method.  The  most  in- 
teresting and  effective  manner  in  which  these 
facts  can  be  exhibited  is  in  the  simply  written 
narratives  of  personal  adventure  and  experience 
by  the  men  who  are  yet  with  us,  and  who  were 
actors  in  those  "times  that  tried  men's  souls." 
It  is  this  feature  of  the  following  pages  that  gives 
to  them  their  value.  It  is  probable  that  no  man 
living  among  us  has  delivered  so  great  a  number 
of  sermons,  attended  a  larger  number  of  religious 
conventions  and  conferences,  been  instrumental 
in  erecting  a  larger  number  of  houses  of  worship, 
has  a  personal  acquaintance  in  more  churches, 
has  solicited  money  for  religious  and  educational 
enterprises  to  a  greater  extent,  or  has  baptized 
more  men  and  women  into  Christ,  than  has  the 
central  figure  in  this  book.     His  narrative  is  sim- 


VIII  INTRODUCTION. 

pie,  clear,  veracious.  He  speaks  of  matters  of 
which  he  was  personally  cognizant.  This  volume 
ought  to  be  widely  circulated  and  read,  especially 
by  the  middle-aged  and  the  young.  The  elderly 
folks  will  find  pleasure  in  these  pages,  because 
their  contents  will  remind  them  of  a  glorious 
past — a  period  of  time  in  the  remembrance  of 
which  they  find  a  peculiar  joy. 

B.  B.  TYLER. 


INTRODUCTORY. 

The  honest  record  of  the  experiences  of  many- 
years  of  those  who  have  served  God  well  in  any- 
noble  ministries  in  his  work  among  men,  espe- 
cially if  these  ministries  have  been  full  of  unbroken 
active  service,  is  of  inestimable  value  to  the 
Church.  There  is  offered  to  us  in  such  a  record 
the  full  harvest  of  a  life  of  true  faith,  of  exalted 
motives,  of  a  sincere  devotion  to  the  cause  of  our 
Master,  of  unwavering  fidelity  to  the  holiest  con- 
victions that  can  inspire  human  souls.  The  story 
of  such  a  life,  even  if  passed  in  the  least  am- 
bitious paths,  is  a  picture  that  can  be  studied  with 
pleasure  and  profit  Such  unostentatious  "an- 
nals" of  a  long  service  in  the  Church  of  God 
are  unfolded  to  us  in  the  pages  of  this  book. 
Personally  familiarly  acquainted,  I  may  say,  with 
Dr.  Belding's  history  for  about  fifty-seven  years, 
I  can  speak  with  confidence  of  what  it  reports 
to  us.  I  desire  to  point  out  some  particular  feat- 
ures of  this  history. 

Dr.  Belding  throughout  all  his  life  has  been 
unfalteringly  true  to  his  profession  as  a  Christian. 
The  ardent  faith  of  his  early  years  has  sustained 
him,  a  faith  unchanged,  unabated  to  the  present 
hour.  There  have  been  no  periods  of  weakening 
or  defection  in  his  life.  His  clear  conceptions  of 
New  Testament  Christianity  also,  which  he  learned 
directly  from  the  fathers  of  our  reformatory  move- 

(IX) 


X  INTRODUCTORY. 

ment,  have  never,  even  for  a  moment,  given  way 
before  the  influence  of  any  of  the  adverse  changes 
w^hich  time  inevitably  brings  with  it.  Our  brother 
holds  fast  to-day,  close  on  the  borders  of  four- 
score years,  as  he  did  in  his  youth,  to  the  faith, 
the  doctrine  and  the  practice  of  New  Testament 
Christianity.     This  the  pages  of  this  book  reveal. 

The  author  of  these  personal  memoirs  has  al- 
ways been  ardent  and  zealous  in  whatever  service 
he  undertook.  To  be  constantly  in  action  has 
been  an  enduring  passion  with  him.  This  is  high 
praise,  mat  is  not  due  to  all  in  the  ministry,  but 
it  is  a  most  noble  instinct  of  the  soul. 

As  this  biography  relates.  Dr.  Belding  has 
been  in  many  forms  of  the  Master's  service.  He 
has  been  very  active  in  our  national  and  State 
missionary  and  benevolent  enterprises,  and  has 
always  courageously  urged  upon  churches  and 
individuals  their  full  duty  to  support  the  cause 
of  Christ,  and  in  a  manner  that  gave  him  much 
success,  and  never  caused  him  to  lose  the  good 
will  of  the  people.  His  experience  has  been  large 
in  "setting  in  order  the  things  that  were  want- 
ing" in  churches,  and  in  quieting  disturbances 
and  restoring  peace  among  brethren.  To  him  is 
due  this  great  praise  :  he  never  made  trouble  any- 
where. The  reason  of  this  is,  that  he  has  been  a 
man  of  kindly  disposition  and  of  wisdom.  Dr. 
Belding  has  not  been  a  blunderer. 

But  I  have  said  enough.  My  object  in  these 
introductory  words  is  to  tell  the  reader  what  kind 


INTRODUCTORY.  XI 

of  a  man  he  is  who  here  tells  the  story  of  his 
life,  and  consequently  what  is  the  value  of  the 
l)ook  he  has  written. 

CHARLES  LOUIS  LOOS. 
Lexington,  Ky. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


-    Page 

PBEFACE  by   the   AxJTHOB Ill 

Intkoduction  by  B.  B.  Tyler,  of  New  Yobk vi 

Intboductoby  by  Chaeles  Louis  Loos,  Pbesident  of 

Kentucky  Univebsity ix 

Chaptee  I. — Genealogy  of  the  Belding  Family. 
Db.  Eufus  Belding.  Death  of  W.  A.  Belding's 
Mothee 1 

Chaptee  IL — W.  A.  Belding's  Early  Life.  A 
Mixed  Family.  Five  Sets  of  Childeen,  and  all 
Happy 4 

Chaptee  III. — Death  of  Alvin  Belding.     Exchange 

of  Names.     A  Huge  Joke 7 

Chaptee   IV. — Eaely  Education.     Mischievous.     A 
Man  with  Hindsight.     A    Goose    Quill  Causes     " 
Teouble.     Chubch  Officees  as  Distillebs.     Ex- 
peeience  with  Intoxicants.     Fibst  Essay 10 

Chaptee  V. — Campbellism.  Deebfield  Chubch. 
All  Peeachebs.  Stephen  R.  Hubbabd's  Lost 
Oppobtunity.     Failubes.     Convebsion  of   Wab- 

BEN 14. 

Chaptee  VI. — Seveee  Illness.  On  the  Boedeb 
Land.  Called  Back.  Resolution.  A.  S.  Hay- 
den.  The  Fibst  and  Only  Campbellite  Chubch. 
Ebenezee  and  Feedebick  Williams  Lose  Theib 
Univeesalism.  Waeben  Studies  Medicine. 
Teies  to  Preach  Also.  Mingles  Peeaching 
with  Peactich.  Asks  Some  Teoublesome  Ques- 
tions         18 

(XIII) 


XIV  TABLE    OF    CONTENTS. 

PAGir 
Chapter  VII. — Meeting  at  Indian  Run.  Isbael  Bel- 
ton  AND  Dr.  Belding  Unite  Two  Churches.  Mar- 
riage TO  Myra  E.  Ward.  Live  at  Hanover,  O. 
"That  Ugly  Man."  J.  H.  Lampheab  and  War- 
ren Debate  with  A.  C.  Hanger  and  Dr.  Hayes. 
Warren's  First  Baptism.  "Bury  that  Man." 
A  Man  Buried  for  Thirty  Seconds.  Compensa- 
tion        24 

Chapter  VIII. — Moves  to  Minerva.  Partnership 
WITH  Geo.  W.  Lucy.  J.  H.  Jones.  A  Chastise- 
ment. A  Pertinent  Text.  An  Irresponsible 
Hearer.  Two  Troublesome  Girls.  Smart  Young 
Men.     Insincerity 29 

Chapter  IX. — Meeting  at  Steubenville.  Preacher 
IN  Gloves.  Drowning  of  Two  Boys.  Charles 
Louis  Loos.  A.  Wilford  Hall.  No  Bread. 
Fish 35^ 

Chapter  X. — Preached  in  a  Ballroom.  A  Forty- 
pounder  Loaded  to  Shoot  a  Chipmunk.  One 
Text  Spoiled  a  Debate.  Sermon  on  Justifica- 
tion         39 

Chapter  XI. — A  Lutheran  Exposes  Campbellism. 
Street  Preaching.  Discussion.  A  Good  Meet- 
ing. Father  Stanmetts.  The  Devil  and  the 
Campbellite  I*reacher : 44 

Chapter  XII. — Division  of  the  Scriptures.  Great 
Enlightenment.  Dr.  Tuttle.  Prejudice.  The 
Doctor  Moves  to  Doylestown.  Partnership 
WITH  Dr.  a.  L.  Simmons.  Makes  Slankertown 
His  Home.     Jacob  Huffman 49 

Chapter  XIII.— Starts  a  Temperance  Hotel.  Dis- 
couragements. A  Helpless  Wife.  Resolves 
to  Devote  Himself  to  Preaching.  Moves  to 
Shalersville 52 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS.  XV 

Page 
Chapter  XIV. — Thomas  Munnell,.  Thbeat  to  Shoot. 
A  Flat  Contradiction.  Good  Meeting  at  Sha- 
lersville.  john  rudolph.  preaching  to  three. 
Baptizing  the  Only  Sinner.  Mad.  Eepentant. 
Conversion  of  an  Angry  Choirmaster.  Sing- 
ing A  Falsehood 56 

Chapter  XV. — Belligerent  Backsliders.  They  Be- 
come Peaceful.     Croundless  Fears 68 

Chapter  XVI. — Trip  to  Chicago.  Visit  to  Pumpkin- 
town,  Pa.  a  Small  Legacy  Starts  Three 
Churches.  Meetings  Held  in  South  Butler,  N. 
Y, ,  New  York  City  and  Danbuey,  Conn.  Touch- 
*  iNG  Incident.  Moves  to  Mentor.  Rufus,  His 
Son,  Baptized 6.5 

Chapter  XVII. — Bedford  Meeting.  Methodist  De- 
sires Baptism.  Forsaking  Home  to  Become  a 
Christian 68 

Chapter  XVIII. — Origin  of  Hiram  College.  The 
Doctor  as  a  Beggar.  The  Man  who  was  Al- 
ways IN  Debt 72 

Chapter  XIX. — Legacy  for  Poor  Students  and  for 
Preaching.  Beginning  of  the  Church  in  Well- 
ington, O.  Preaches  in  Madison  to  Presbyte- 
BIANS 75 

Chapter  XX. — At  Auburn  and  South  Butler,  N.  Y. 
A  Severe  Reprimand.  Fighting  Christians.  A 
Good  Result.  "A  Little  Child  Shall  Lead 
Them.  ' '  Preaching  fob  Congbeg ationalists 77 

Chapter  XXI. — Mbs.  Belding.  Hee  Last  Illness. 
Visit  of  A.  S.  Hayden  and  Wife.  Death  of 
Mrs.  Belding.     Obituary 82 


XVI  table;  of  contents. 

Page 
Chapter  XXII. — Visit  to  Auburn,  N,  Y.  Conver- 
sion OF  Wealthy  Ann  Ellen.  HeK  Gift  Begins 
A  Church  at  Syracuse.  Sectarian  Opposition. 
A  Worldling  Comes  to  the  Rescue.  Too  Good  a 
Counterfeit.  Daily  Papers  Receive  a  Lesson. 
Church  at  Syracuse  Organized.  Dedication  by 
D.  S.  Burnet.     Testimonials 8ft 

Chapter  XXIII. — Work  at  Troy,  N.  Y.  Marriage 
TO  Emily  Sherman.  Marriage  of  Rufus  E. 
Belding.  The  Sher^ian  Family,  Meeting  at 
Chicago.  .  Building  the  First  Christian  Church 
AT  Chicago.  A  Good  Day's  Work.  Building  a 
.  Church  at  Troy,  N.  Y.  Wm.  B.  Mooklar.  J. 
Z.  Taylor.  D.  R.  Van  Buskirk.  A  Religious 
Girl ^94 

Chapter  XXIV. — Newspaper  Hostility 100 

Chapter  XXV. — Work  at  Brooklyn,  iN^.  Y.  J.  Brad- 
ford Cleaver.  A  Gospel  Church  Reorganized 
into  a  Church  of  Christ.  A  House  Purchased. 
C.  B.  Edgar.  Dr.  Belding  Retires  from  Reg- 
ular Pastoral  Work.  Greenpoint  Mission.  A 
House  of  Their  Own 103 

Chapter  XXVI. — Southern  Christian  Institute — Its 
Origin.  Ovid  Butler.  O.  A.  Burgess.  R.  Fau- 
ROT.  Buying  a  Plantation.  T.  I.  Martin.  The 
Doctor  Very  III  in  Mississippi.  Jephthah 
HOBBS 107 

Chapthr  XXVII. — A  Call  to  San  Francisco.  Buying 
A  Lot.  Caned.  F.  W.  Pattee.  Englewood, 
III.  Another  Church  House  Built  and  Paid 
For.  Chicago  City  Board  of  Missions  Formed. 
At  Worcester,  Mass.  W.  S.  Rogers'  Report. 
Extensive  Acquaintance.  Son  (Sherman)  and 
Grandsons.     Preaching  at  Pittstown,  N.  Y HI 

Appendix. — Family  Tree.  A  Chaplain's  Prayer. 
Pioneer  Preachers.  Testimonials.  Mount  Beu- 
LAH.  Sermon  on  Salvation.  Sermon  on  Church 
Union 115 


BIOGRAPHY  OF  DR.  W.  A.  BELDING. 


CHAPTER  I. 


Henry  Ward  Beecher,  being  once  asked 
what  things  were  necessary  to  a  noble  and  suc- 
cessful life,  replied:  "  First  let  a  man  choose  a 
good  father  and  mother."  The  influence  of  ances- 
tral habits  and  training  can  be  traced  in  the  life  of 
every  man,  and  it  is  certainly  a  point  in  a  man's 
favor  that  we  can  trace  his  ancestry  back  to  the 
old  States  of  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut.  If 
it  was  "the  land  of  witches,"  it  was  also  "the 
land  of  steady  habits."  If  the  unbending  rigor 
of  conscience  led  the  Puritan  Fathers  to  a  too- 
literal  interpretation  of  the  command,  "Suffer 
not  a  witch  to  live,"  they  were  certainly  no  more 
given  to  superstition  than  the  rest  of  the  world  at 
that  time  ;  while  for  unyielding  loyalty  to  con- 
viction and  devotion  to  truth,  as  they  understood 
it,  they  have  probably  never  been  surpassed. 

The  genealogy  of  the  Belding  family  has  been 
traced  by  the  writer  back  eight  generations,  to  a 
Richard  Bayldon,  of  Wethersfield,  Conn.,  living 
in  1640.  Further  back  than  this  it  is  difficult  to- 
go,  but  the  name  is  undoubtedly  English.  Some 
branches  of  the  family  have  changed  the  spelling 
to  Beldin^  Belden,  or  Beldon;  but  it  is  certain 
that  the  original  spelling  was  Bayldon^  and  the 
first  change,  to  Belding. 

Dr.  Rufus  Belding,  the  father  of  W.  A    Beld- 
(I) 


2  BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.   A.   BELDING. 

ing,  was  born  in  Northampton,  Mass.,  in  1777. 
The  year  1800  found  him  and  his  wife — Charlotte 
Sabin,  daughter  of  Jeremiah  Sabin,  of  North- 
ampton— in  company  with  a  large  number  of 
others,  who  emigrated  about  that  time  from  Mas- 
sachusetts and  Connecticut  to  various  portions  of 
what  was  then  called  the  Connecticut  Western 
Reserve,  but  which  soon  after  became  a  portion 
of  the  State  of  Ohio. 

The  party  with  which  the  family  traveled  went 
first  to  Cleveland,  O. ,  then  but  a  village  of  seven 
log  cabins.  It  is  difficult  for  us  to  realize  how 
new  and  undeveloped  that  region  then  was.  Only 
four  years  previous  (July  4,  1796),  the  first  sur- 
veying party  of  the  Western  Reserve  had  landed 
at  the  mouth  of  Conneaut  Creek,  and  on  July 
22,  of  the  same  year,  the  city  of  Cleveland  was 
founded.  Every  part  of  the  ground  upon  which 
that  city  is  now  built  could  have  been  purchased 
for  one  dollar  and  a  quarter  per  acre  at  the  time 
the  doctor  and  his  family  arrived. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  says  his  father  had 
some  intention  of  settling  there  and  beginning 
the  practice  of  medicine,  for  which  he  had  pre- 
pared ;  but,  after  looking  the  ground  over,  he 
decided  that  it  was  too  unhealthy  even  for  a  phy- 
sician. Accordingly  he  wended  his  way  to  what 
is  now  Randolph,  Portage  Co.,  O.  Accompany- 
ing him  were  two  other  families,  named  Baker 
and  Blackman  ;  the  Bakers  settled  in  Shalersville 
and  the  Blackmans  in  Aurora.  It  was  difficult  to 
travel  through  the  almost  unbroken  wilderness,  as 


BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.   A.   BELDING.  3 

for  miles  it  was  necessary  to  cut  their  way  through 
the  dense  forests. 

Upon  his  arrival,  he  set  about  making  a  home. 
Here  he  afterwards  lived  fifty-seven  years,  in  that 
time  witnessing  the  vast  changes  produced  in  the 
wilderness  around  him  by  the  settling  of  thou- 
sands of  immigrants  from  the  Eastern  States. 

He  continued  the  practice  of  medicine  until  ill 
health  compelled  him  to  abandon  it,  leaving  a 
record  of  which  few  physicians  can  boast  —  that 
he  never  was  accused  of  being  exorbitant  in  his 
charges.  When  asked  why  he  did  so  much  work 
for  so  little  pay,  he  often  replied:  "It  is  hard 
enough  to  be  sick  without  having  to  pay  out  all 
one  has  for  the  privilege."  Devoting  himself  to 
others,  with  little  thought  of  compensation,  it  fol- 
lows naturally  that  he  left  only  a  small  property 
to  his  numerous  family  at  his  death,  which  oc 
curred  in  1854. 

The  wife,  who  bravely  shared  with  him  the 
dangers  and  privations  of  this  pioneer  life,  was 
born  in  Herkimer  County,  N.  Y.  Her  maiden 
name  was  Charlotte  Sabin.  She  died  before 
Warren  was  two  years  old,  leaving  eight  children 
— six  older  and  one  younger  than  he.  The  boys 
were  Justin,  Sabin,  Anson  and  Alvin  ;  the  sisters, 
Louisa,  Ruth  and  Charlotte. 


CHAPTER  II. 

Warren  Asa  Belding  was  born  at  Randolph, 
September  5,  1816,  about  sixteen  years  after  his 
parents  settled  in  that  place.  There  must  have 
been  much  of  the  pioneer  vigor  in  the  constitution 
of  the  lad,  for  that  life  in  a  new  country  was  try- 
ing enough  at  best ;  but,  for  one  deprived  of  a 
mother's  love  and  care  before  his  second  birthday 
anniversary,  it  must  have  been  doubly  hard. 

One  little  occurrence  of  this  early  time  in  his 
life's  history  remains  engraven  on  his  memory 
and  suggests  the  difficulties  under  which  the 
father  labored  in  endeavoring  to  care  for  the 
motherless  children.  This  incident  is  rather 
amusing  in  the  light  of  his  religious  experiences 
of  after  years. 

Shortly  after  his  mother's  death,  his  father  took 
him  on  horseback  to  the  house  of  a  good  old 
Presbyterian  deacon,  who  had  kindly  offered  to 
take  care  of  the  lad  for  a  time.  As  they  drew  up 
at  the  door  of  the  good  man's  cabin,  he  made  his 
appearance,  wearing  a  countenance  which  the 
doctor  declares  was  as  *'[long  as  the  moral  law," 
and  which  made  such  an  impression  on  his  mind 
that  for  years  he  associated  solemn  countenances 
with  Presbyterianism. 

In  the  family  of  this  man  Warren  remained  for 
some  time,  and,  as  he  grew  up,  he  visited  them 
often.  The  deacon  had  a  very  kind  heart,  but 
was  of  a  strong-willed,  unbending  nature,  and 
was  a  firm  Calvinist  of  the  old  school.     It  was 

(4) 


BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.    A.   BELDING.  5 

from  this  family  that  Warren  first  learned  of  the 
conflict  between  Calvinism  and  Arminianism. 
Indeed,  it  furnished  in  itself  a  living  example  of 
that  conflict ! 

For  many  years  Presbyterianism  had  held  un- 
disputed sway  in  that  section,  but,  not  long  before 
the  events  just  spoken  of,  the  Methodists  (who 
were  at  that  time  looked  upon  much  as  the  Salva- 
tion Army  is  to-day)  had  established  a  class  in 
the  northern  part  of  the  town.  On  a  "  Sabbath  " 
morning  the  devoted  deacon  would  saddle  his  best 
horse  and  start  for  the  south,  where  stood  his 
church  ;  while  his  equally  devoted  and  conscien- 
tious wife  would  mount  the  horse  saddled  for  her 
use,  and,  giving  it  free  rein  and  choice,  would 
find  the  "Spirit"  guiding  her  toward  the  north, 
to  the  Methodist  meeting  at  the  schoolhouse. 
So  matters  continued  for  thirty  years,  both  going 
their  separate  ways  on  Sunday,  and  living  the 
balance  of  the  week  in  perfect  harmony. 

"What,"  says  Warren,  "I  could  not  under- 
stand at  the  time,  and  have  never  been  quite  able 
to  figure  out,  was  why  the  self-same  Spirit  who 
foreordained  that  the  deacon  should  go  south  to 
worship  with  the  Calvinists,  should  have  unerr- 
ingly led  his  wife  to  the  north,  to  worship  among 
the  Methodists.  I  am  unable  to  reconcile  it  with 
Christ's  prayer,  '  That  they  all  may  be  one  ;  as 
thou,  Father,  art  in  me,  and  I  in  thee  ;  that  they 
also  may  be  one  in  us  :  that  the  world  may  know 
that  thou  hast  sent  me.'  " 

It   had   been  necessary  to  find  homes  for  War- 


6  BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.  A.   BELUING. 

ren's  brothers  and  sisters  in  different  families,  and, 
in  consequence,  they  became  almost  strangers  to 
one  another  for  a  time.  But  the  family  was  par- 
tially reunited  by  the  second  marriage  of  the 
father,  who  found  a  helpmeet  in  the  person  of 
Mrs.  Hannah  Spellman.  By  this  marriage  a 
daughter,  Martha,  was  born.  The  second  wife 
lived  but  a  few  years,  and,  after  a  suitable  period 
of  mourning,  the  father  again  married.  This 
bride  was  also  a  widow,  Mrs.  Sarah  Humphrey. 
From  this  marriage  but  one  child  was  born,  Edwin 
Clinton. 

Warren  has  often  declared  that  it  was  given  to 
this  family  to  disprove  two  adages:  First,  that 
"there  is  no  such  person  as  a.  good  stepmother  ^\- 
second,  that  "no  house  is  large  enough  for  two 
families." 

The  Widow  Spellman  had  seven  children,  and 
the  Widow  Humphrey  two,  by  their  former  hus- 
bands. There  were  in  this  family,  as  it  was 
finally  constituted,  five  sets  of  children — nineteen 
in  all — and  it  is  the  assertion  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch  that  few  families,  if  any,  ever  lived  more 
happily  together. 

The  last  wife  survived  her  husband  many  years, 
dying  at  last  at  the  age  of  eighty-four,  at  the 
home  of  her  son,  Edwin  C.  Belding,  of  Ra- 
venna, O. 


CHAPTER  III. 

Of  Warren's  own  brothers  and  sisters,  all  but 
one  (Sabin)  attained  to  maturity.  Justin,  the  old- 
est, was  for  nearly  forty  years  engaged  in  a  mer- 
cantile business  in  Randolph,  where  his  life  was 
ended.  Anson  studied  medicine  and  had  just 
begun  to  practice  in  Newburg,  O.  (now  a  part  of 
the  city  of  Cleveland) ,  when  he]  was  suddenly 
stricken  by  death. 

Alvin,  the  fourth  son,  and  next  older  than 
Warren,  devoted  his  life  to  the  medical  profes- 
sion. His  last  thirty-nine  years  were  spent  in 
Ravenna,  O.,  where  he  gained  a  widespread  rep- 
utation as  a  skillful  physician.  He  was  attacked 
by  typhoid  pneumonia  :  and,  when  it  was  decided 
that  the  issue  would  be  fatal,  he  requested  that  his 
brother  Warren  should  be  sent  for.  A  telegram 
was  immediately  dispatched,  but  before  Warren 
arrived  death  had  claimed  its  victim.  Alvin, 
knowing  the  hours  of  arrival  of  the  different 
trains,  would  often  inquire  whether  the  time  was 
not  near  at  hand.  At  length  he  said,  "  I  can  not 
wait  longer  ;  bid  him  good-by  for  me,"  and  he  fell 
asleep. 

In  early  life  Alvin  had  been  skeptical.  When 
(in  1854)  he  was  standing  with  his  brother  War- 
ren at  the  grave  of  their  father,  as  the  remains 
were  being  lowered,  Alvin  said:  "  I  would  give 
the  world,  if  I  possessed  it,  for  the  hope  that 
you  have,  and  that  I  have  no  doubt  you  enjoy  ; 
but  the  future  looks  dark  to  me."  As  the  years 
(7) 


8  BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.  A.   BELDING. 

passed,  his  skepticism  gradually  gave  way,  until, 
later,  when  visited  by  Warren,  he  would  often  in- 
vite him  to  return  thanks  at  the  table,  and  some- 
times to  read  the  Scriptures  and  offer  prayer 
before  retiring  for  the  night. 

In  the  autumn  preceding  his  death,  while  the 
two  were  conversing  upon  religious  matters,  he 
said:  "You  think  I  will  never  unite  with  the 
church,  but  I  think  I  shall.  If  you  could  know 
how  hard  it  is  for  a  man  of  my  age  to  break  away 
from  his  lifelong  associations,  you  could  not  be 
too  thankful  that  you  became  a  Christian  in  early 
life.     Would  that  I  had  done  the  same  !" 

Of  the  sisters,  Louisa  became  the  wife  of  D. 
K.  Wheeler,  while  Ruth  became  Mrs.  Calvin 
Rawson.  The  third,  Charlotte,  married  Joseph 
H.Ward. 

The  three  sisters  lived  and  died  in  their  native 
county.  Of  the  original  family,  none  survive 
except  Warren. 

At  an  early  age  there  appeared  some  of  the 
traits  that  have  since  become  marked  charac- 
teristics. Among  these  were  a  love  of  a  trade, 
and  a  general  capacity  for  business.  He  re- 
lates a  number  of  transactions,  which,  perhaps, 
do  not  differ  greatly  from  the  average  country 
boy's  experience.  But  one  was  of  so  unique  a 
character  that  it  certainly  deserves  to  be  recorded. 

A  very  dear  friend  of  nearly  the  same  age  had 
a  name  that  Warren  admired  more  than  any  other 
proper  name.  He  says  he  tried  to  purchase  it, 
and    to    exchange    for   it,    but    without    success 


BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.   A.   BELDING.  9 

Finally  his  business  tact  suggested  that  each 
should  take  the  first  name  of  the  other  and  use  it 
for  a  second  name.  As  this  met  with  Asa's  favor, 
they  were  known  thereafter  as  Asa  Warren  Raw- 
son  and  Warren  Asa  Belding. 

Another  prominent  trait  which  appeared  early 
in  life  and  which,  though  subdued  by  age,  has 
never  been  lost,  is  his  love  for  a  joke. 

One  day,  while  riding — according  to  custom, 
upon  horseback  behind  his  father — he  suddenly 
called  out:  "  Father,  who  is  that  coming  behind 
us  on  a  white  horse?" 

The  father  turned  himself  on  his  horse,  and, 
looking  back,  replied  :   "I  see  no  one." 

"Turn  your  horse  around." 

This  was  soon  done.  Still  the  father  saw  no 
one.  At  this  the  boy  said:  "It's  just  an  April 
fool,  father." 

This  was  too  much  for  the  serious-minded  par- 
€nt,  and  the  rebuke  he  administered  was  so  severe 
that  a  like  experiment  was  never  again  attempted 
at  his  father's. expense. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

At  the  age  of  fourteen,  Warren  was  placed  in 
what  was  called  the  High  School  of  Randolph. 
Here  he  distinguished  himself  for  a  time  by  his 
high  spirits  and  intense  love  of  fun.  He  himself 
says  of  this  period:  "  I  was  not  as  well  qualified 
to  enter  this  school  as  I  might  have  been  had  I 
been  as  faithful  to  my  studies  as  I  was  diligent  at 
play.  I  do  not  think  I  was  vindictive,  sullen  or 
stubborn,  but  I  would  have  fun." 

The  boundless  energy  displayed  in  after  years 
in  the  service  of  Christ  found  its  outlet  while  he 
was  a  boy  in  the  hundreds  of  mischievous  pranks 
that  he  played. 

Schoolmasters  in  those  days  were  literally 
"  knights  of  the  birch,"  and,  as  it  was  the  stand- 
ing rule  with  his  father  to  duplicate  any  whipping 
he  received  at  school,  Warren  considered  it  a 
fortunate  day  when  he  came  off  with  no  more 
than  two  punishments.  On  one  occasion,  the 
teacher  having  remarked  many  times  that  he  had 
eyes  in  the  back  of  his  head,  it  occurred  to  War- 
ren to  test  the  truth  of  the  remark  by  removing 
his  chair  as  he  started  to  sit  down.  Watching  his 
opportunity,  he  did  so,  and,  as  the  result,  the 
teacher  measured  his  length  upon  the  floor.  The 
result  may  be  left  to  the  reader's  imagination  j 
but  the  next  day  found  him  as  deeply  in  mischief 
as  ever. 

The  teacher  one  day  fell  asleep  in  his  chair. 
Warren  coolly  split  a  goose-quill,  crept  softly  up, 
do) 


BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.   W.   A.   BELDING.  II 

and  placed  it  firmly  on  the  end  ol  his  nose.  This 
was  too  much  for  the  school ;  the  shouts  of  laugh- 
ter aroused  the  slumberer  and  his  ungovernable 
temper.  His  first  inquiry  was:  "Who  did  it?" 
The  scholars  were  disposed  to  shield  the  perpe- 
trator of  the  daring  joke  ;  but  the  teacher's  anger 
was  excited  to  its  fighting-point,  and  he  declared 
thatj  he  would  flog  every  scholar  in  the  school 
unless  the  culprit  was  revealed  to  him.  By  some 
means  he  gained  the  desired  information,  and  the 
truthfulness  of  the  saying  that  "a  scolding  does 
not  hurt  and  a  whipping  doesn't  last  long  "  proved 
less  true  in  practice  than  in  theory. 

Another  characteristic,  which  manifested  itself 
in  boyhood,  and  which  has  always  been  prominent 
in  the  man,  is  an  ambition  not  to  be  [outdone. 
This  is  not  associated  with  a  selfish  spirit,  nor  is  it 
the  result  of  pride,  but,  rather,  the  outworking  of 
a  restless  energy.  This  quality  sometimes  led  the 
lad  into  difficulties.  In  those  days  every  one 
drank  liquor.  Farmers  furnished  strong  drink  in 
the  field  and  at  all  house  and  barn  raisings. 
Church-members  distilled  and  sold  it  without  any 
qualms  of  conscience  and  without  losing  the  re- 
spect of  their  neighbors  ;  even  ministers  of  the 
gospel  made  liberal  use  of  it.  It  need  not  be 
thought  strange  that  Dr.  Rufus  Belding  had  com- 
bined hotel-keeping  with  his  farming  and  practice 
of  medicine.  In  his  hotel,  as  a  matter  of  course, 
he  kept  a  bar.  Nor  was  it  deemed  incongruous 
that  Captain   Hubbard,  who  was  one  of  the  lead- 


12  BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.   A.  BELDING. 

ing  men  of  the  place,  and  a  deacon  in  the  church, 
should  own  and  operate  a  distillery. 

As  Warren  advanced  in  years  he  felt  an  increas- 
ing desire  to  be  a  man  and  to  do  the  things  that 
all  men  seemed  to  do.  Inasmuch  as  all  his  male 
acquaintances  drank  liquor,  he  felt  that  a  long 
stride  toward  manhood  would  be  taken  when  he 
learned  to  drink.  He  told  his  stepmother  one 
day  that  he  wished  she  would  not  stint  him,  but 
for  once  give  him  all  the  whisky  he  could  take. 
She  immediately  granted  his  request,  placing  be- 
fore him  a  large  glass  of  liquor,  well  sweetened. 
Telling  him  to  help  himself,  she  left  him.  This 
he  proceeded  to  do,  taking  spoonful  doses  and 
after  each  one  trying  to^walk  a  crack  in  the  floor. 
This  was  continued  until,  unable  to  stand,  he  fell 
violently,  striking  his  head  and  causing  his  nose  to 
bleed  copiously. 

A  short  time  after  this,  he  was  invited  by  Cap- 
tain Hubbard's  sons  to  visit  their  father's  distillery. 
Obtaining  permission  from  his  father,  he  did  so, 
and  was  much  interested  in  the  various  processes 
of  the  still.  At  length  one  of  the  boys  proposed  a 
test  which  he  said  was  put  to  all  visitors  to  the  es- 
tablishment. It  was  to  see  who  could  drink  the 
most  of  the  raw  spirits  without  staggering  under 
the  load.  The  noble  sons  of  the  captain  set  the 
example  of  draining  the  proof-glass  filled  from  the 
barrel,  and  Warren,  of  course,  followed  suit, 
emptying  several  glasses  in  his  anxiety  to  show  his 
manhood.  The  consequence  was  that  he  became 
drunk,  and  had  to  be  carried  home  in  a  carriage 


BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.   A.  BELDING.  1 3 

by  his  comrades  and  put  to   bed  to  sleep  off  the 
effects  of  the  liquor. 

Warren  declares  from  that  event  he  first  learned 
the  close  relationship  existing  between  falsehood, 
deceit  and  the  liquor  business  ;  for  he  afterwards 
learned  that  the  boys  who  had  led  in  this  exploit 
did  not  drink  a  drop,  but  merely  feigned  to  do  so. 
From  that  day  to  this  he  has  declared  his  undying 
enmity  to  the  making  and  sale  of  intoxicants.  He 
has  never  swerved  from  the  resolution  then  formed  ► 
The  cause  of  temperance  has  always  found  in  him 
a  zealous  advocate,  while  the'  ranks  of  total  ab- 
stainers received  a  lifelong  recruit. 

His  first  literary  production,  which  was  read  be- 
fore the  school  not  long  afterward,  was  an  essay,, 
in  which  he  took  the  position  that  the  manufactur- 
ers and  venders  of  liquor  were  more  guilty  than 
the  consumers  ;  inasmuch  as  the  former  acted  for 
the  sake  of  paltry  gain,  while  the  drinker  often- 
times was  the  victim  of  an  uncontrollable  appetite. 

This  was  a  very  advanced  position  for  those 
days,  and  was  vigorously  resented  by  many  in 
the  community.  One  good  man,  a  liquor-dealer 
and  a  deacon  in  the  church,  forbade  his  daughter's 
walking  to  and  from  school  with  a  boy  of  so  rad- 
ical sentiments. 

Warren  also  tried  tobacco  once — and  once  only» 
He  has  often  been  heard  to  say  that  he  does  not 
understand  how  Christian  men  can  indulge  in  so 
filthy  and  injurious  a  habit,  directly  contrary  to 
Second  Corinthians  vii.  i. 


CHAPTER  V. 

About  this  time  the  doctrine  called  "  Camp- 
bellism "  was  introduced  into  Randolph.  This 
greatly  disturbed  the  orthodox  citizens  of  the 
town,  so  that  even  the  Methodists,  who  so  lately 
had  met  with  the  same  disfavor  on  making  their 
dcbut^  took  fright,  and,  joining  forces  with  the 
Presbyterians,  thought  to  stay  the  ravages  of  a  de- 
lusion which  threatened  the  ruin  of  many  of  their 
best  citizens. 

The  adjoining  town  of  Deerfield  had  taken  hold 
of  the  pernicious  and  unheard-of  doctrine,  that 
God  had  so  plainly  and  simply  revealed  his  -will 
in  the  Bible  that  men  of  common  understanding 
could  read  it^  gather  its  meanings  and  even  tell 
to  others  the  -plan  of  salvation.  This  was  aston- 
ishing, and  led  to  more  Bible  reading  in  a  few 
months  than  had  been  done  before  in  many  years. 
Men  were  sent  over  from  Deerfield,  one  after  an- 
other, or  in  couples,  until  the  wonder  was  whether 
all  its  men  were  not  preachers.  These  men  were 
Jonas  Hartzell,  Peter  Hartzell,  John  McGowen, 
Peter  McGowen,  Amos  AUerton  and  Z.  Finch, 
with  others  whose  names  are  not  recalled.  Most 
of  them  found  a  temporary  home  at  Dr.  Belding's, 
where  they  were  always  welcome.  One  of  them, 
being  asked  by  the  doctor  how  many  preachers 
there  were  in  Deerfield,  replied:  "  About  sixty." 
"  How  many  members  in  the  church?"  "About 
sixty  male  members." 

This  was  in  harmony  with  Scripture  teaching, 
(14) 


BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.   A.   BELDING.  I5 

as  found  in  Paul's  second  letter  to  Timothy  :  "The 
things  thou  hast  heard  .  .  .  commit  thou  to  faith- 
ful men,  who  shall  be  able  to  teach  others  also." 

On  August  27,  1832,  Warren  resolved  to  carry 
into  execution  a  desire  long  cherished,  although 
expressed  to  very  few ;  that  desire  was  to  become 
a  Christian.  His  most  intimate  friend,  Stephen  R. 
Hubbard,  had  asked  him  several  times  to  obey  the 
gospel  with  him,  but  Warren  was  not  then  ready. 
Now  that  he  had  made  up  his  mind,  he  would  like 
the  company  of  his  friend  ;  however,  Stephen's 
time  and  opportunity  were  past,  his  desires  having 
taken  another  direction.  So  Warren  alone,  true  to 
his  convictions  of  duty,  was  immersed,  upon  a  pro- 
fession of  his  faith  in  Christ  as  the  Son  of  the 
living  God,  by  the  hands  of  Elder  Marcus  Bos- 
worth  . 

The  day  he  was  baptized  was  a  memorable  one 
to  the  Disciples  of  Christ  in  Ohio,  as  well  as  to 
himself — memorable  to  the  Church  as  the  date  of 
the  first  annual  meeting  of  the  State.  The  pres- 
ence of  every  leader  and  nearly  every  member  of 
the  denomination  living  in  Ohio  made  the  occa- 
sion important  to  all. 

Among  those  best  known  who  were  assembled 
on  that  day  were  Alexander  Campbell ;  Tolbert 
Fanning,  of  Tennessee  ;  A.  S.  Hay  den,  William 
Hayden,  J.  J.  Moss,  and  Marcus  and  Cyrus  Bos- 
worth  . 

He  cast  in  his  lot  with  the  little  company  of 
Disciples,  then  nicknamed  "  Campbellites,"  al- 
though they  acknowledged  no  names  except  those 


l6  BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.  A.  BELDING. 

sanctioned  by  the  primitive  church — "Disciples 
of  Christ,"  or  ''Christians."  As  a  church  or 
body,  they  desired  only  the  name  authorized  by 
the  Master,  when  he  said  that  he  would  build 
upon  a  foundation  against  which  the  gates  of  hell 
could  not  prevail ;  meaning  the  Church  of  Christ. 

Very  naturally,  the  reader  will  want  to  know 
what  became  of  Stephen  Hubbard.  His  refusal 
to  go  with  Warren  sealed  his  fate  ;  from  that  time 
forward  he  never  again  felt  "  almost  persuaded." 
He  married  a  devoted  and  religious  young  lady  ; 
children  were  born  to  them,  and  the  wife,  by  her 
devotion  to  the  cause  of  Jesus,  won  other  souls  to 
him.  But  her  tears  and  prayers  were  unavailing 
in  Stephen's  behalf.  When  on  her  death-bed,  she 
took  from  beneath  her  pillow  her  long-loved  Bible 
— her  mother's  gift — and  begged  him  to  accept  it 
and  to  promise  that,  as  it  had  been  her  guide 
through  life,  so  he  would  make  it  his.  He  took 
the  well-worn  book,  but  he  withheld  the  promise.. 
The  last  word  heard  from  him  by  his  old  compan- 
ion was  a  letter  written  with  the  trembling  hand 
of  age  and  betraying  the  skepticism  still  nursed  in 
his  almost  pulseless  breast. 

warren,  wuh  fixed  purpose,  began  his  religious 
life  in  earnest.  He  made  an  eflfort  several  times 
to  speak  in  prayer-meeting,  but  each  time  failed,. 
owing  to  his  extreme  embarrassment. 

JNo  doubt  one  reason  for  this  lay  in  the  fact  that 
his  lormer  associates  had  said  sneeringly  :  "  Yes, 
he  got  dipped  that  he  might  be  a  preacher."  The 
remark  had  its  influence,  and,  with  all  his  efforts. 


BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.   A.   BELDING.  1 7 

to  drive  it  away  or  rise  above  it,  he  was  unable 
for  a  long  time  to  accomplish  what  he  otherwise 
might  have  done. 

An  incident  of  this  period  will  illustrate  the  de- 
gree of  his  embarrassment ;  and  few  have  felt  it 
more  than  he.  Calling  one  day  on  a  very  pious 
member  of  the  church — who,  to  all  appearances, 
was  near  the  close  of  life,  being  so  feeble  that  he 
was  unable  to  speak  above  a  whisper — he  was 
beckoned  to  the  old  man's  bedside,  and,  in  scarcely 
audible  voice,  was  requested  to  pray  ;  but  so  em- 
barrassed was  the  lad  that  he  turned  aside,  feign- 
ing not  to  hear.  The  good  man  died  soon  after- 
wards, and  for  a  long  time  Warren  was  troubled 
by  night  and  day.  He  never  found  relief  until 
he  sought  pardon  of  the  Lord,  resolving  that  he 
would  never  again  be  guilty  of  a  like  offense. 

By  repeated  efforts  to  speak,  this  timidity  was 
gradually  overcome.  A  constant  study  of  the 
Scriptures  gave  him  courage  and  increased  his 
knowledge  of  the  truth. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

In  January,  1834,  accompanied  by  Stephen 
Hubbard — who  now  took  no  interest  in  the  sub- 
ject of  religion — he  one  day  left  the  heated  school- 
room, and,  rushing,  boylike,  into  the  extremely 
cold  outdoor  air,  ran  a  mile  and  a  quarter  to  his 
home.  Having  become  intensely  heated  by  this 
violent  exercise,  and  using  no  precaution,  they 
cooled  off  too  rapidly.  Warren,  as  a  result,  was 
attacked  with  a  severe  cold,  and  that  night  was 
stricken  with  pneumonia.  This  disease  held  him 
poised  between  life  and  death  for  seven  long 
weeks.  Much  of  that  time  he  was  unconscious 
of  his  surroundings  ;  but  his  mind  seemed  to  rove 
among  the  stars,  from  world  to  world,  even  to 
that  home  of  which  we  know  so  little,  save  what 
we  see  by  the  eye  of  faith  !  This  was  told  him 
by  his  bedside  watchers.  When  consciousness 
returned,  it  was  decided  that  there  was  no  hope  of 
life.  There  were  several  consulting  physicians, 
partly  because  of  sympathy  for  the  father,  who, 
you  will  remember,  was  a  physician.  Some  of 
them  were  very  confident  in  their  opinions,  and 
said  that  he  "  was  no  better  off  than  in  his  grave." 

The  watchfulness  of  the  loving  father  and  the 
vigilance  of  the  kind-hearted  stepmother  can 
never  be  forgotten.  The  brothers"  and  sisters  also 
rendered  what  assistance  they  could,  and, 
prompted  by  grief  and  sympathy,  did  all  that 
human  hands  could  do  to  be  helpful  in  these  try- 
ing hours.  The  time  came  when  it  was  thought 
(18) 


BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.  A.   BELDING.  I9 

the  Struggle  was  over.  The  father  had  pro- 
nounced him  dead,  and  the  family  was  in  tears  ; 
while  the  son,  with  mind  unclouded,  was  wonder- 
ing all  the  time  why  the  living  should  manifest  so 
much  grief  at  so  happy  a  change.  He  was  be- 
holding, as  in  a  panorama,  his  entire  life  at  a 
single  glance,  and  at  the  same  time  getting  a  view 
of  heaven,  with  its  myriads  of  inhabitants,  when, 
to  his  great  disappointment,  he  heard  his  father 
say  :   "  He  is  reviving." 

No  language  can  express  the  peculiar  emotions 
of  that  hour  in  being  brought  back  to  life.  The 
entire  past  and  the  heavenly  future,  both  occupy- 
ing the  mind  at  the  same  moment,  are  indescribable. 
If  that  point  of  exquisite  bliss  can  ever  again  be 
reached,  it  will  not,  it  can  not,  seem  hard  to  die. 

This  was  the  crisis,  from  which  hour  he  became 
convalescent.  "A  walking  skeleton"  was  re- 
ported to  infest  the  house.  Long  and  tedious  was 
the  process  of  recovery  ;  but  precious  hours  for 
study  and  reflection  were  afforded,  and  it  was  at 
this  time  that  he  resolved  to  devote  the  future  of 
his  life  to  the  proclamation  of  God's  own  plan  for 
the  salvation  of  men,  through  the  gospel  of  his 
Son. 

A  plan  was  formed  and  an  effort  made  to  carry 
the  same  into  execution.  He  was  to  enter  the 
field  in  company  with  A.  S.  Hayden,  his  senior 
by  a  few  years.  When  the  desire  was  made 
known  to  his  father  it  did  not  meet  his  approval, 
and  for  awhile  it  was  abandoned. 

His  father  was  noi  yet  identified  with  the  Disci- 


20  BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.  A.  BELDING. 

pies,  but  avowed  himself  a  "  Campbellite."  He 
had  been  associated  with  the  Universalists,  in 
which  faith  his  first  wife,  the  mother  of  Warren, 
had  lived  and  died.  Her  funeral  services  had 
been  conducted  by  Ebenezer  Williams,  who  after- 
wards became  a  preacher  among  the  Disciples,  as 
did  also  his  brother  Frederick.  Both  of  them 
have  told  the  writer  that  when  they  first  heard  the 
ordinance  of  Christian  baptism  discussed  by  the 
Disciples,  to  their  minds  it  was  clearly  taught, 
and  their  love  for  Christ  and  reverence  for  his  au- 
thority led  them  at  once  to  say :  '*  Lord,  lead  and 
we  will  follow."  They  were  both  baptized,  be- 
lieving as  firmly  as  ever  that  God  would  ultimately 
bring  the  entire  race- into  a  state  of  holiness  and 
happiness.  They  soon  lost  their  belief  in  Univer- 
salism,  but  when  or  how  they  never  knew. 

To  return  to  the  avowal  of  the  father  that  he 
was  a  Campbellite :  he  wrote  and  circulated  a 
subscription  to  build  a  house,  in  which  the  people 
called  "  Campbellites "  or  "Disciples"  might 
worship.  On  being  asked  whether  he  and  one  of 
his  neighbors  were  Disciples,  he  promptly  an- 
swered :  "  No,  we  are  *  Campbellites.'  "  He  de- 
fined the  word  as  meaning  one  who  believes  the 
teaching  of  Alexander  Campbell,  but  does  not 
obey  it.  He  said,  further,  that  that  teaching  of  the 
Disciples  was  the  only  consistent  Scriptural  doc- 
trine he  had  ever  heard.  He  circulated  the  sub- 
scription and  largely  superintended  the  work  of 
building  the  house,  until  it  was  ready  for  use.    He 


BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.   A.   BELDING.  21 

was  among  the  first  within  its  walls  to  make  con- 
fession of  his  faith  in  a  once  crucified  and  buried, 
but  now  risen  and  exalted,  Savior.  His  course  of 
life,  in  some  respects,  was  changed  ;  in  many  oth- 
ers there  was  no  need  of  change.  As  already- 
stated,  two  of  the  deacons  of  the  church  were 
manufacturers  of  whisky  ;  of  which  he  himself 
was  a  retailer.  Nevertheless,  three  better  men 
would  have  been  hard  to  find. 

The  son,  Warren,  dissuaded  by  his  father  from 
devoting  his  life  to  preaching,  and  especially  from 
beginning  at  so  early  an  age,  turned  his  attention 
to  the  study  of  medicine.  His  father  had  a  good 
medical  library  for  the  times,  and  he  inherited  a 
taste  for  this  kind  of  study  that  increased  as  the 
years  rolled  on.  But,  in  spite  of  his  love  for  the 
study  of  medicine,  he  never  lost  his  desire  to 
preach  the  gospel.  If  an  opportunity  offered  to 
talk  on  the  subject,  he  seldom  let  it  pass  without 
trying  to  improve  it.  It  was  not,  however,  until 
several  years  later  that  he  attempted  to  preach  a 
discourse.  Warren  began  the  practice  of  medi- 
cine in  1839,  at  Aurora,  O.,  with  Dr.  Fowler,  of 
that  place,  but  soon  after  removed  to  Greentown, 
Stark  Co.,  O. 

Being  in  Wayne  County,  where  Dr.  George  W. 
Lucy  was  holding  a  meeting  of  some  days'  dura- 
tion, the  doctor  insisted  that  "  Bro.  Belding 
should  preach  in  his  stead."  Warren  naturally 
declined,  saying  that  he  had  never  tried  to  preach  ; 
but  the  preaching   doctor  was  not   to  be  put  off', 


22  BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.  A.   BELDING. 

and  declared  that  Warren  must  do  it.  When  he 
found  excuses  of  no  avail,  he  made  up  his  mind 
to  make  the  effort,  but  told  Dr.  Lucy  that  the  re- 
sponsibility of  failure  lay  with  him.  It  is  related 
that  he  spoke  earnestly  for  about  thirty  minutes, 
but  when  he  sat  down  he  could  not  recollect  any- 
thing he  had  said. 

Not  long  after  this,  while  living  in  Stark 
County,  O.,  Warren  heard  a  Methodist  preacher, 
one  Sunday  evening,  advance  some  sentiments 
which  he  did  not  think  in  harmony  with  Bible 
teaching  He  arose,  and  begged  the  privilege  of 
asking  a  question  or  two. 

It  was  readily  granted  by  the  minister,  a  Mr. 
Weekly.  The  first  question  was:.  "Suppose  a 
man  to  be  so  depraved  by  nature  that  he  can  not 
think  a  good  thought,  speak  a  good  word,  or  do  a 
good  act,  without  some  renewing  grace  ;  if  he 
never  gets  the  renewing  grace,  on  whom  does  the 
blame  rest?" 

Before  the  question  was  fairly  put,  an  old  gen- 
tleman, in  a  very  excited  and  angry  manner, 
jumped  up  and  said  :  "I  think  you  had  better  sit 
down."  Bro.  Weekly  spoke  up  very  pleasantly, 
and  said:  "  Speak  on,  doctor."  He  resumed  his 
talk,  when  the  old  man  again  cried  out:  "You 
had  better  sit  down.  You  have  manifested 
enough  of  the  spirit  of  antichrist."  Bro.  Weekly 
kindly  said,  "Go  on,  brother,"  keeping  silence 
while  the  doctor  finished  his  speech.  It  was  a 
dear  speech  for  him  from   a  business  standpoint. 


BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.  A.   BELDING.  23 

as  he  did  not  receive  a  call  from  a  single  member 
of  that  church  for  the  next  three  or  four  months. 
When  a  physician's  services  were  needed,  they 
sent  ten  miles  for  a  Methodist  doctor.  This  was 
no  new  thing,  however,  for  ^' our  religion''''  was 
frequently  a  persecuted  religion.  But  the  world 
moved  on,  and  the  cause  of  the  Master  gained 
friends  by  being  persecuted. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Doctor  Belding,  as  he  was  thereafter  called, 
grew  in  spiritual  strength,  and  was  embolden  to 
speak  publicly  and  advocate  the  distinctive  fea- 
tures of  the  plea  which  is  characteristic  of  the 
Disciples  of  Christ.  While  in  Stark  County,  he 
was  invited  to  assist  in  holding  a  meeting  at  Indian 
Run,  where  the  Baptists  had  a  small  church.  The 
pastor,  Israel  Belton,  came  in  and  took  a  friendly 
part  in  the  services  a  few  tipies,  until  his  brethren 
found  so  much  fault  with  him  that  he  frankly  told 
them  that  if  they  did  not  cease  their  persecutions 
he  would  unite  with  the  Disciples,  for  he  believed 
they  had  the  truth.  This  he  subsequently  did, 
and,  through  the  united  efforts  of  Bros.  Belton 
and  Belding,  the  two  bodies  became  one,  and 
have  continued  thus  until  the  present  time. 

His  professional  business  frequently  called  him 
into  adjoining  towns,  where  he  would  make  an 
appointment  to  preach  in  the  evening,  returning 
to  his  home  after  meeting.  Thus  he  would  de- 
liver more  discourses  in  the  year  than  many  men 
who  gave  their  entire  time  to  the  work  of  preach- 
ing. 

He  could  never  understand  how  some  pastors, 
making  it  the  business  of  their  lives,  could  expect 
the  Master  to  say,  "  Well  done,  good  and  faithful 
servant,"  for  the  little  labor  they  had   performed. 

We  will  step  back  to  relate  a  few  incidents 
which  occurred  before  this  time.  On  September 
29,  1837,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Myra  E.  Ward, 
(24) 


BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.    A.   BELDING.  25 

the  eldest  daughter  of  Elisha  Ward,  of  Randolph, 
O.  Their  first-born  child,  a  daughter  named 
Sarah  Sophia,  died  at  the  age  of  two  years  and  a 
half,  at  Hanover,  Columbiana  Co.,  O.,  where 
they  had  taken  up  their  residence.  While  living 
at  Hanover,  he  preached  throughout  Columbiana 
and  Carroll  Counties. 

While  attending  an  annual  meeting  in  what  was 
called  the  Roudabush  settlement,  upon  his  return 
from  meeting  one  evening,  Mother  Roudabush, 
who  spoke  very  broken  English,  not  knowing 
that  Dr.  Belding  was  in  the  house,  asked:  "Who 
vas  dot  ugly  mon  vat  breached  to-day?"  Not 
being  able  to  describe  him  very  accurately,  she 
was  delighted  when  the  doctor  stepped  into  the 
room,  and  shouted  :  "  Dot  is  de  werry  feller." 

A  discussion  was  carj-ied  on  for  several  days  by 
Bro.  J.  H.  Lamphear  and  Dr.  Belding  on  one 
side,  and  A.  C.  Hanger  and  Dr.  Hays,  of  the 
Christian  Connection,  on  the  other.  This  at- 
tracted much  attention  in  the  community,  and 
brought  together  large  audiences.  The  questions 
discussed  were  :  "Does  the  guilt  of  original  sin 
cleave  to  every  child  of  Adam  ?"  and,  if  so,  "  Does 
God,  by  some  supernatural  interposition  of  his 
Spirit,  convert  and  save  him?"  Of  these  two 
propositions  Mr.  Hanger  and  Dr.  Hays  affirmed 
and  the  others  denied.  Another  subject  was : 
"  Do  the  Scriptures  teach  that  the  alien  or  sinner 
must  be  baptized  in  order  to  become  a  citizen  of 
the  kingdom  of  Christ?"  Also:  "Are  all  spirit- 
ual blessings  promised,  in   the   Bible,  in   Christf'' 


26  BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.   A.   BELDING. 

These  latter  propositions  were  affirmed  by  Lamp- 
hear  and  the  Doctor,  and  denied  by  the  others. 
This  was  the  first  public  discussion  in  which  Dr. 
Belding  ever  engaged.  But  the  triumph  of  truth 
was  so  apparent  to  the  minds  of  the  people, 
and  they  were  so  demonstrative,  that  it  embold- 
ened him  to  stand  for  its  defense  wherever  and 
whenever  it  seemed  to  be  demanded  of  him. 

Soon  after  this,  in  company  with  Joseph 
Rhodes,  or  Father  Rhodes,  as  he  was  familiarly 
called  in  the  community,  he  went  into  Carroll 
County  to  attend  a  meeting  to  be  conducted  by 
Bro.  Jonas  Lamb.  The  preacher  failing  to  ap- 
pear, the  brethren  insisted  that  Dr.  Belding 
should  conduct  the  meeting  —  a  thing  he  had 
never  before  attempted.  But,  as  he  had  pledged 
himself  never  to  shrink  fjom  what  seemed  to  be 
his  duty,  he  said:  "'With  your  help  and  the 
help  of  the  Lord,  I  will  try."  At  the  first  meet- 
ing, Saturday  afternoon,  three  persons  came  for- 
ward to  confess  their  faith  in  the  Savior,  and 
asked  to  be  baptized. 

Now  came  a  greater  ordeal  than  any  preceding 
one.  He  had  never  administered  the  rite  of  bap- 
tism, and  there  was  doubt  in  his  mind  whether  it 
was  proper  for  him  to  do  so,  never  having  been  or- 
dained to  the  ministry.  But  the  thought  from  the 
"Book  of  all  books,"  that  every  Christian  is  a 
"king  and  priest  to  God,"  settled  the  question, 
and  he  resolved  to  do  the  best  that  he  could. 

The  hour  was  set  for  the  baptism,  and  a  large 
gathering  was  in  waiting  at  the  water  vvhen  he  ar- 


BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.   A.   BELDING.  27 

rived.  It  seemed  to  him  that  every  eye  was  fixed 
upon  him,  and  that  everybody  knew  this  to  be  his 
first  experience.  Some,  indeed,  hoped  that  he 
might  make  a  failure,  for  the  people  of  this  com- 
munity had  little  regard  for  the  institution.  After 
invoking  the  divine  blessing  upon  the  candidates 
and  administrator,  they  descended  with  trembling 
steps  into  the  water.  When  a  sufficient  depth  was 
reached,  in  as  solemn  and  reverential  a  manner  as 
possible  the  person  was  buried  in  the  baptismal 
grave,  raised  from  it,  and  led  to  the  shore  with  a 
relief  of  mind  which  is  easy  to  imagine.  The 
second  candidate  was  led  forward  and  both  went 
down  into  the  water.  The  first  was  so  easily  bap- 
tized that,  not  being  on  his  guard,  he  failed  to 
entirely  submerge  the  second,  who  was  very  tall. 
He  had  partly  raised  him  out  of  the  water,  when 
Father  Rhodes  shouted:  "  Bro.  Belding,  bury 
that  man!"  On  this  advice,  he  was  again  low- 
ered into  the  water  and  buried.  This,  while  it 
was  very  embarrassing,  taught  him  a  lesson  which 
he  never  forgot.  Thenceforward  he  never  failed 
to  bury  the  candidate  entrusted  to  his  hands  as 
baptist. 

Some  years  after  this,  a  gentleman  in  Cato,  N. 
Y.,  who  all  his  life  had  been  troubled  with  skepti- 
cism, was  compelled  to  yield  to  the  claims  of  the 
gospel  and  desired  to  be  baptized.  As  he  was 
being  led  down  into  the  stream,  he  asked  the  doc- 
tor to  bury  him  as  deeply  as  possible  and  hold  him 
under  the  water  at  least  thirty  seconds.  This 
request   was  complied  with,  and  the  brethren  on 


^8  BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.   W.  A.   BELDING. 

shore  became  quite  excited,  thinking  that  perhaps 
the  doctor  had  not  strength  to  raise  him.  Bro. 
Cook,  an  elder  in  the  congregation,  stepped  into 
the  water  and  was  coming  to  his  assistance  ;  but, 
before  he  reached  the  spot,  the  apparent  struggle 
was  over  and  the  anxiety  relieved. 

The  reason  afterward  given  for  this  singular 
request  was  a  desire  to  remain  under  water  long 
«nough  to  think  of  the  death,  burial  and  resurrec- 
tion of  Christ. 

From  this  time  forward,  he  devoted  much  more 
time  than  before  to  preaching,  and,  while  he  con- 
tinued the  practice  of  medicine,  he  did  not,  and 
would  not,  accept  compensation  for  his  service  as  a 
preacher.  In  looking  over  his  old  diaries,  we  find 
recorded  :  "  For  two  hundred  and  sixty-seven  days, 
spent  largely  in  preaching,  I  received  two  dollars 
and  thirty-seven  cents  in  cash,  a  pair  of  socks  and 
&  pair  of  striped  mittens,  knit  and  given  me  by  an 
old  sister." 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Leaving  Hanover,  he  moved  to  Minerva,  Stark 
County,  in  1841.  Here  he  entered  into  partner- 
ship with  Bro.  Geo.  W.  Lucy,  who  was  also  a 
physician  and  preacher.  Being  alike  interested 
both  in  the  practice  of  medicine  and  in  preaching 
the  gospel,  they  so  managed  that  one  of  them  was 
constantly  filling  a  pulpit  on  Lord's-days,  and 
trequenily  engaged  in  protracted  meetings  during 
the  week. 

Bro.  J.  H.  Jones  was  assisting  in  a  meeting  in 
Minerva,  where  he  and  the  doctor  were  preaching 
alternately.  One  afternoon,  when  Bro.  Jones  was 
expected  to  preach,  the  hour  for  meeting  arrived, 
but  the  preacher  did  not  put  in  an  appearance ► 
The  brethren,  becoming  somewhat  impatient, 
requested  Dr.  Belding  to  go  on  with  the  services. 
After  the  opening  hymn,  the  reading  of  the  Scrip- 
tures and  prayer,  and  after  the  doctor  had  an- 
nounced the  subject  of  his  discourse,  Bro.  Jones 
stepped  in  the  door.  Dr.  Belding  sat  down,  and 
Bro.  Jones,  wiping  the  freely  flowing  perspiration 
from  his  face,  walked  into  the  pulpit  and  said  : 
**  Brethren,  I  have  been  a-fishing  ;  and  no  man 
can  be  a  good  preacher  who  is  not  a  good  fisher- 
man." He  then  continued:  "Jesus  once  said, 
'  Follow  me,  and  I  will  make  you  fishers  of  men. '^ 
Pray  tell  me,  where  did  a  man  ever  catch  a  fish 
but  in  the  water?" 

This  was  the  theme  of  his  discourse,  founded 
upon  the  language  of  Christ  to  Nicodemus,,  John 
(29) 


30  BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.  A.   BELDING. 

iii.  5:  "Except  a  man  be  born  of  water  and  of 
the  Spirit,  he  can  not  enter  into  the  kingdom  of 
God."  He  gave  an  explanation  of  the  figurative 
language  of  the  Savior,  as  follows  :  "The  man  be- 
gotten or  regenerated  by  the  Spirit,  through  the  in- 
strumentality of  the  gospel,  as  Paul  declares  ( i  Cor. 
iv.  15)  :  'Though  ye  have  ten  thousand  instructors 
in  Christ,  yet  have  ye  not  many  fathers  :  for  in  Christ 
Jesus  I  have  begotten  you  through  the  gospel ' — 
this  man,  being  baptized,  or  born  of  water  (not  of 
a  few  drofs,  a  substance  less  than  itself,  but  a 
burial^  a  plantings  an  overwhehning) ,  is  bom  of 
the  Spirit  at  the  same  time,  having  been  begotten 
by  it.  It  is  one  thing  to  become  a  citizen  of  a 
kingdom,  but  quite  another  to  form  the  character 
of  a  loyal  citizen.  The  King  will  crown  only 
those  who  are  loyal." 

While  speaking  of  the  peculiarities  of  J.  H.  Jones 
(for  there  has  never  been  one  like  him),  we  will 
relate  another  incident  which  occurred  at  Minerva 
in  the  same  meeting.  While  Bro.  Jones  was 
preaching,  one  of  his  own  little  boys,  who  had 
been  led  into  the  meeting  by  his  aunt,, Jits  mother 
being  absent  that  day,  partaking  of  liis  father's 
mischievous  disposition,  seemed  inclined  to  take\ 
advantage  of  circumstances.  While  his  fathery 
was  preaching,  he  did  not  behave  himself  in  a 
manner  altogether  satisfactory.  His  father  spoke 
to  him  reprovingly  two  or  three  times  without 
producing  the  desired  result.  Thereupon  he 
asked  the  congregation  to  sing  a  few  verses  of  a 
familiar  hymn,  and,  stepping  down  from  the  pul- 


BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.  A.  BELDING.  3 1 

pit,  he  took  the  offending  lad  by  the  hand  and 
started  toward  the  door.  Conviction  at  once 
seized  the  boy,  and,  if  drops  of  grief  are  an  evi- 
dence of  repentance,  he  became  a  true  penitent. 
Nevertheless,  his  father  chastised  him  with  a 
hickory  switch.  The  performance  being  ended, 
the  lad  was  brought  in  and  seated,  with  an  em- 
phatic "  Sit  down  and  behave  yourself."  After 
this  episode,  the  preacher  resumed  his  place  in 
the  pulpit,  and  succeeded  (as  few  men  can  do)  in 
drawing  the  attention  of  the  people  from  what 
had  occurred,  to  the  subject  under  discussion. 

The  following  anecdote  will  illustrate  the  dan- 
ger of  indiscriminate  rebuke  from  the  pulpit : 
A  minister,  who  was  called  to  preach  in  a  cer- 
tain place,  found  before  him  a  young  man  who 
not  only  seemed  indifferent  to  the  sermon,  but 
who  was  talking  and  apparently  trying  to  attract 
the  attention  of  those  around  him.  The  speaker 
rebuked  him  sharply,  but  without  good  result. 
When  the  preacher  went  to  his  temporary  home, 
the  host  expressed  his  regret  that  he  had  reproved 
the  young  man  ;  for  he  belonged  to  one  of  the 
best  families  in  town ,  but  was  an  idiot  —  not 
responsible  for  what  he  did  —  and  the  parents 
would  be  much  grieved.  The  preacher  declared 
that  thereafter  he  never  dared  to  reprove  any  one 
in  church  for  fear  of  rebuking  an  idiot. 

The  doctor  thought  on  one  occasion  that  he 
would  try  the  effect  of  relating  the  above  incident 
in  church.  It  was  while  holding  a  meeting  at 
Cascade,    Mich.      Two    young  ladies  —  one    the 


32  BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.   A.  BELDING. 

daughter  of  a  clergyman  in  the  village,  the  other 
an  intimate  associate  of  hers — had  proved  very- 
troublesome,  not  only  to  the  resident  pastors,  but 
to  all  who  had  filled  the  pulpits  of  the  place. 
After  inquiring  who  they  were,  and  being  told 
that  it  would  be  useless  to  reprove  them,  the 
doctor  one  day  paused  in  the  midst  of  his  sermon 
and  told  the  story.  It  proved  effectual  as  nothing 
else  had  been.  The  girls  covered  their  faces  with 
their  veils  and  pouted  until  the  services  were  over. 
They  then  said  they  would  not  hear  that  man 
preach  again,  because  he  had  called  thevi  idiots^ 
He  frankly  confessed  that  it  would  have  been 
much  better  to  interest  them  and  captivate  their 
affections,  if  possible,  by  the  gospel  of  Christ, 
and  lead  them  to  an  acknowledgment  of  the 
truth.      But  this  appeared  to  be  hopeless. 

About  the  year  1840,  the  doctor  held  a  series 
of  meetings  at  Wintersville,  O.  In  the  course  of 
the  protracted  effort  a  number  of  persons  con- 
fessed Christ  and  desired  baptism.  The  same 
difficulty  was  encountered,  to  a  limited  extent, 
which  is  o''ten  urged  by  pedobaptists  as  an  argu- 
ment against  immersion,  viz.  :  the  scarcity  of 
water.  There  was  no  convenient  place  for  bap- 
tizing, short  of  the  Ohio  River,  six  miles   away. 

At  one  of  the  evening  sessions,  when  the  gos- 
pel invitation  was  extended,  a  young  man,  among 
others,  came  forward  to  make  the  confession. 
For  some  reason  the  doctor  doubted  his  sincerity. 
So,  after  taking  the  confessions  of  the  others,  he 
turned    to    this    young    man    and    asked:   "Who 


BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.   A.   BELDING.  33 

wished  you  to  be  baptized?"     He  replied:  "Mr. 

."   "  What  did  he  agree  to  give  you?"     The 

answer  was :  "Twenty-five  cents."  The  person 
who  hired  him  to  act  thus  was  the  son  of  a 
prominent  church-member.  The  incident  is  a  sad 
comment  on  the  influence  of  sectarianism,  and  a 
proof  of  the  truthfulness  of  the  saying  that  "  our 
religion  is  a  persecuting  religion." 

During  the  same  meeting  another  incident  oc- 
curred which  illustrates  the  wiles  of  Satan  in  his 
efforts  to  hinder  the  progress  of  truth  by  making 
the  ordinances  of  the  gospel  of  Christ  appear 
ridiculous . 

A  man — or  one  who  presented  the  appearance 
of  a  man — in  answer  to  the  inquiry,  "  Who  is  on 
the  Lord's  side?"  came  and  said  that  he  wished 
to  do  as  they  did  in  the  days  of  the  apostles  (Acts 
xvi.  33),  be  baptized  "the  sam"^  hour  of  the 
night."  The  doctor,  who  had  seen  so  many  at- 
tempts to  destroy  the  efTect  of  his  work,  was  at 
once  impressed  with  a  conviction  that  the  whole 
thing  was  a  scheme  of  the  enemy's.  They  were 
evidently  trying  to  get  the  preacher  and  the  more 
zealous  of  the  church-members  to  the  water,  sev- 
eral miles  away,  that  they  might  find  themselves 
without  a  candidate.  So,  for  the  tirst  time  in  his 
life,  he  recommended  putting  ofl"  until  to-morrow 
what  the  Lord  commanded  to  be  done  to-day. 
But  the  Lord  also  commanded,  through  Paul,  in 
First  Corinthians  iii.  lo,  that  a  man  should  be 
careful  how  he  builds  on  the  foundation,  which  is 
Christ.     The  suspicion  proved  to  be  well  founded, 


34  BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.   W.   A.   BELDING. 

for  the  man,  penitent  for  what  he  had  done,  con- 
fessed that  his  only  object  was  to  play  a  trick  upon 
the  preacher.  But  the  doctor  detected  the  decep- 
tion, and  he  said  to  the  congregation  :  "  If  it  is  a 
sheep,  it  will  continue  bleating  around  the  fold  ; 
but  if  a  wolf,  he  will  leave  when  he  fails  to  catch 
the  prey." 


CHAPTER  IX. 

After  the  work  closed  at  Wintersville,  Dr. 
Belding  was  called  to  Steubenville  to  assist  in  a 
meeting  at  that  place.  Nothing  of  a  very  inter- 
esting or  peculiar  character  occurred  during  this 
time,  save  one  incident,  which  shows  the  influence 
of  little  things.  The  doctor  had  come  in  contact 
with  some  poison  vine,  and,  being  very  suscepti- 
ble to  its  action,  was  suffering  much  inconvenience 
from  it ;  especially  about  the  hands,  which  were 
not  very  presentable  for  the  pulpit.  Therefore,  to 
hide  their  unpleasant  appearance,  he  preached 
wearing  gloves,  and  that  without  making  an  apol- 
ogy or  explanation. 

Several  j'^ears  had  elapsed  ;  when  Dr.  and  Mrs. 
Belding  were  once  crossing  Lake  Erie,  Mrs. 
Belding  fell  in  company  with  an  old  lady,  ai!d 
they  became  quite  social.  It  was  ascertained  that 
the  woman  resided  in  Steubenville,  and  Mrs.  Beld- 
ing asked  her  if  she  had  ever  attended  the  Chris- 
tian Church,  or  heard  their  preachers.  The  reply 
was :  "Not  often  ;  but,  a  number  of  years  since, 
I  heard  a  young  upstart,  who  preached  with  his 
gloves  on.  That  spoiled  him  for  me!"  Mrs. 
Belding  called  her  husband,  and,  introducing  him 
to  the  lady,  said  that  she  thought  he  must  be  the 
man  alluded  to,  as  she  had  heard  him  tell  the  same 
story. 

A  revival  was  in  progress  at  Bellaire,  O  While 
Dr.  Belding  was  preaching  on  New  Year's  Day, 
word  was  brought  to  the  church  that  the  only"  two 
(35) 


36  BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.   A.   BELDING. 

sons  of  Bro.  Archer  were  drowned  in  the  river. 
The  whole  congregation  was  thrown  into  confu- 
sion and  rushed  from  the  house.  A  diligent  search 
was  made  for  the  bodies,  and  they  were  soon 
found,  locked  in  each  other's  arms.  The  funeral 
was  largely  attended,  and  the  doctor  discoursed 
upon  the  words  of  the  wise  man:  "Remember 
now  thy  Creator  in  the  days  of  thy  youth,  while 
the  evil  days  come  not,  nor  the  years  draw  nigh, 
when  thou  shalt  say,  I  have  no  pleasure  in  them" 
(Eccl.  xii.  i).  Without  doubt  this  dispensation 
of  affliction  had  its  influence  upon  the  meeting, 
since  large  numbers  were  gathered  into  the  church. 
About  the  year  1839,  in  Minerva,  Dr.  Belding 
formed  the  acquaintance  of  Charles  Louis  Loos, 
or  Charlie  Loos,  as  he  was  then  called.  He  came 
from  home  to  request  the  doctor's  attendance 
upon  his  sister,  who  was  quite  ill.  From  that  time 
their  friendship  has  been  constant  and  most  inti- 
mate. When  Charlie  was  quite  a  boy,  Alexander 
Wilford  Hall  and  he  spent  some  little  time  at  the 
doctor's  home.  On  one  occasion  Charlie  wished 
to  leave  the  village  quite  early  in  the  morning, 
and,  being  more  thoughtful  than  many  young  men 
are,  he  did  not  want  to  disturb  the  people  to  get 
him  an  early  breakfast.  He  thought  he  would 
take  some  bread  and  milk.  But,  there  being  no 
bread  in  the  house,  he  started  out  to  find  some. 
After  calling  at  the  homes  of  Brethren  Whittaker, 
Pool  and  Shrivers,  he  returned  with  the  sad  story 
of  '''no   bread  to   be  found^''''    remarking  that   it 


BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.  A.  BELDING.  37 

would  be  very  difficult,  in  that  village,  for  a  man 
to  live  long  on  bread  alone. 

Many  pleasing  incidents  are  recalled  of  their 
intermittent,  though  almost  lifelong,  companion- 
ship. In  later  years,  Bro.  Loos  and  wife  desired 
to  make  a  visit  to  New  England.  They  proposed 
that  the  doctor  accompany  them,  to  which  he 
assented.  On  their  trip,  they  were  permitted  to 
visit  nearly  all  of  the  Disciples  in  New  England, 
for  they  were  not  numerous.  While  at  Bro.  J.  C. 
Talbot's,  in  East  Machias,  on  the  seacoast  of 
Maine,  they  remained  several  days  without  seeing 
a  fish,  either  on  the  table  or  elsewhere.  They 
wondered  at  it,  as  they  supposed  fish  would  be 
plentiful  there,  if  anywhere.  The  doctor  asked 
Sister  Talbot  if  there  were  no  fish  in  that  part  of 
the  ocean. 

"  Fish  !  "  said  she  ;  "  yes,  but  we  supposed  that 
everybody  was  tired  offish,  just  as  we  are." 

"Well,"  replied  the  doctor,  '■'• -we  want  fish.'''' 

"Yes,"  said  Bro.  Loos,  "fish,  fish,  fish, 
FISH,  until  we  say  stop." 

Here  the  doctor  says  :  "  If  you  desire  a  pleas- 
ant traveling  companion,  take  the  president  of 
Kentucky  University  with  you.  You  can  have 
fun,  anything  serious  or  instructive,  as  you  may 
desire.  He  does  not  think  it  wicked  to  laugh, 
and  is  in  sympathy  with  the  thought  that  God 
made  this  world  for  men.  If  kept  under  the  feet, 
where  it  belongs,  all  will  be  well ;  but  if  permitted 
to  get  on  our  heads,  it  will  crush  us,  or  if  in  our 


38  BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.  A.  BELDING. 

hearts,  it  will  render  us  miserable  forever.  The 
Christian  can  enjoy  all  in  this  world  that  is  worth 
enjoying,  for  he  has  the  promise  of  this  life  and 
that  which  is  to  come.  He  who  knows  us  better 
than  we  know  ourselves  has  revealed  to  us  his 
will — a  guide  to  our  feet  and  a  lamp  to  our  path- 
way.    Will  we  walk  in  the  light?  " 


CHAPTER  X. 

Dr.  Belding  was  invited  by  a  friend  living 
there  to  preach  a  few  discourses  at  Paris,  Stark 
Co.,  O.  But  when  he  arrived,  no  house  could  be 
found  in  which  to  speak.  The  Methodists  had 
the  only  church  building  in  the  place,  and,  being 
in  power  in  the  community,  they  closed  the 
schoolhouse  against  the  heretic.  But,  as  often 
happens,  they  overshot  the  mark  ;  for  it  aroused 
a  feeling,  in  the  non-professing  portion  of  the  vil- 
lage, favorable  to  the  heretic.  A  hotel-keeper 
came  forward  and  said  that  he  had  a  ballroom 
which  he  would  seat  and  light,  and  that  the  doc- 
tor might  occupy  it  as  long  as  he  pleased.  The 
room  was  fitted  up  and  crowded  with  people, 
curious  to  hear  what  the  "  setters  forth  of  strange 
doctrine"  had  to  say.  The  meeting  progressed 
and  the  interest  increased.  The  people  began 
the  cry  that  "  this  fellow  must  be  stopped  in  his 
work,  or  he  will  destroy  our  church  and  fill  the 
community  with  his  soul-destroying  doctrine." 

The  pastor  of  the  church  was  approached  by 
anxious  members,  and  urged  to  interfere  and  stop 
the  work  of  the  "  wolf  in  sheep's  clothing,"  before 
he  slew  the  lambs  of  the  fold  and  scattered  the 
sheep.  He  was  earnestly  entreated  to  enter  into 
a  discussion  with  the  doctor,  for  there  was  no 
doubt  that  the  fallacy  of  the  "  Campbellite " 
teaching  could  easily  be  shown  and  its  influence 
annulled.  When  the  pastor  was  approached  by 
some  of  the  leading  members  of  his  church,  who 
(39) 


40  BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.   A.  BELDING. 

insisted  that  something  -}imst  be  done,  he  replied : 
"  I  am  not  going  to  load  a  forty-pounder  to  shoot 
a  chipmunk." 

This,  of  course,  came  to  the  ears  of  the  doctor, 
and  feeling  his  spirit  stir  within  him  to  see  the 
place  wholly  given  up  to  Methodism,  he  without 
doubt  said  some  things  [which  tended  to  fan  the 
flames  already  existing.  At  length,  the  fire  be- 
came so  hot  that  the  pastor  began  to  feel  that  the 
time  had  come  when  he  ought  to  escape  from  the 
heat  and  save  the  remnant.  Now,  for  the  first 
time,  he  consented  to  hold  a  debate.  Some  of 
the  citizens,  not  members  of  the  church,  came  to 
the  doctor  and  asked  him  if  he  would  attempt, 
in  a  public  discussion,  to  defend  the  position  he 
had  taken.  To  this  he  replied:  "  Yes,  and  more 
also.  I  will  show  that  the  Methodist  Discipline 
is  not  only  anti-scriptural,  but  is,  in  its  tendency, 
"designed  to  make  infidels  instead  of  Christians." 

"  What  will  you  discuss?  " 

"  Anything  in  the  Discipline,  which  is  contrary 
to  the  teachings  of  the  Bible." 

A  number  of  propositions  were  submitted,  and 
agreed  upon  by  both  parties.  The  time  and 
place  for  the  discussion  were  fixed,  moderators 
were  chosen,  and  an  anxious  community  waited 
impatiently  for  the  appointed  hour.  It  came,  and 
with  it  the  crowd  of  people,  for  the  news  had 
spread  far  and  wide.  When  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal, "  called  and  sent,"  preacher  entered  the 
place  for  discussion,  his  arms  were  loaded  with 


BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.  A.  BELDING.  4I 

commentaries.  He  also  had  a  large  pair  of  old- 
fashioned  "  saddle-bags,"  brought  in  by  an  assist- 
ant, filled  with  books.  It  appeared  as  if  the 
forty-pounder  was  loaded,  and  as  though  the 
chipmunk  might  be  in  danger.  The  meeting  was 
opened  with  prayer.  The  first  proposition  for 
debate  was  :  "  Do  the  Scriptures  teach  justification 
by  faith  only?  "  Half-hour  speeches  were  agreed 
upon,  and  each  was  to  be  allowed  his  full  time. 
*'The  pastor"  arose,  and,  opening  his  Bible, 
read  what  Paul  said  upon  the  subject  of  justifica- 
tion in  Romans  and  Galatians.  When  the  half- 
hour  was  up,  the  speaker  sat  down.  The  doctor 
arose  and  stood  for  a  moment  in  the  midst  of  a 
deathlike  stillness.  Picking  up  the  written  ques- 
tion from  the  desk,  he  read  in  clear  and  measured 
tones  :  "  Do  the  Scriptures  teach  justification  by 
faith  only?"  He  then  safd :  "James,  we  will 
hear  your  testimony."  Turning  to  James  ii.  24, 
he  read:  "You  see  then  how  that  by  works 
a  man  is  justified,  and  not  by  faith  onlyy  Closing 
the  book,  he  sat  down. 

The  pastor  arose  for  his  second  half-hour,  and 
occupied  it  in  reading  page  after  page  of  com- 
ments from  various  authors.  "  Time  expired," 
called  out  the  moderator.  Again  Dr.  Belding 
arose  to  his  feet,  read  the  question,  and  empha- 
sized still  more  the  same  answer. 

The  Methodist  pastor,  doubtless,  felt  some  an- 
noyance at  the  turn  which  the  discussion  had 
taken  ;    but    he    mustered    courage    10    make    his 


42  BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.  A.   BELDING. 

third  attempt,  which  consisted  in  reading  fron> 
manuscript  that  he  had  prepared  for  the  occasion^ 
At  the  expiration  of  his  time  and  speech,  the 
doctor  again  lifted  the  paper  upon  which  the 
question  was  written,  and  said:  "Friends  and 
brethren,  this  is  a  Bthle  question,  and  must  be 
settled  by  Scriptural  authority.  "Therefore,  we 
will  listen  to  the  declaration  of  one  concerning 
whom  Jesus  said :  '  He  that  heareth  you,  heareth 
me  ;  and  he  that  despiseth  you,  despiseth  me  ;  and 
he  that  despiseth  me,  despiseth  him  that  sent  me.' 
James,  what  is  your  testimony  ?  '  You  see  then 
how  that  by  works  a  man  is  justified,  and  7iot  by 
Jaith  only''  (James  ii.  24)."  The  Methodist 
preacher  and  demolisher  of  "small  animals"  did 
not  wait  to  discuss  the  remaining  question,  but, 
in  a  very  excited  and  angry  manner,  gathered 
up  his  books,  took  his  hat,  and  left  the  house 
and  congregation. 

The  only  thing  left  for  the  doctor  to  do  was 
to  fill  up  the  time  allotted  to  him,  which  was  one 
and  a  half  hours — for  he  had  not  used  more  than 
five  minutes. 

He  accordingly  delivered  a  discourse  on  the 
subject  of  justification,  as  taught  in  the  Holy 
Scriptures.  He  endeavored  to  show  that  grace 
alone  never  blessed  a  man,  but  simply  prepared 
the  blessing.  "  Faith  alone ^^^  he  asserted,  "never 
blessed  a  man,  but  only  led  him  to  partake  of 
the  blessing  which  grace  had  prepared.  *  For 
by  grace  are  ye  saved  through  /aith^'  meaning, 


BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.  A.  BELDING.  4^ 

by  faith  are  we  led  into  the  grace.  By  faith  we 
eat  and  drink,  and,  in  eating  and  drinking,  we 
are  blessed." 

As  the  visible  results  of  the  discussion  and 
preaching,  many  were  brought  into  Christ  and  to 
a  knowledge  of  the  truth. 


CHAPTER  XL 

The  spirit  of  the  doctor  was  aroused  by  hearing 
that  a  Lutheran  minister,  by  the  name  of  Schafer, 
near  Canton,  O.,  had  resolved  to  expose  Camp- 
bellism  (as  he  called  it)  at  an  appointed  time. 
Word  had  been  widely  circulated,  as  he  was  a 
man  of  some  note  and  would  call  together  many 
people.  Dr.  Belding  and  Alexander  Wilford 
Hall — then  a  stripling,  but  afterwards  the  author 
of  "  Universalism  Against  Itself,"  and,  later, 
"  The  Problem  of  Human  Life ;  or.  Evolution 
Evolved  " — determined  to  hear  him. 

After  riding  all  day,  they  reached  the  place  in 
time  to  find  a  large  church  filled  with  people. 
Being  strangers,  they  readily  gained  admission, 
and  listened  to  such  a  harangue  and  misrepre- 
sentation of  the  Campbellites — or  Disciples,  as 
the  speaker  sometimes  called  them — as  but  few 
mien  could  or  would  give. 

At  the  close  of  a  lengthy  speech,  and  after  the 
appointments  for  the  next  day  (Sunday)  were 
given  out  and  the  benediction  had  been  pro- 
nounced, Dr.  Belding  asked  the  attention  of  the 
congregation  for  a  few  moments.  All  were  seated, 
and,  in  breathless  silence,  wondered  what  was 
coming. 

The  doctor  requested  the  privilege  of  delivering 
an  address  in  that  house  the  next  morning. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Schafer  answered:  '*We,  our- 
selves, want  to  use  the  house." 

To  this  the. doctor  replied  :  "  We  will  be  through 
(44) 


BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.    A.   BELDING.  45 

with  the  house  before  the  hour  of  your  service — 
eleven  o'clock."  But  this  met  with  an  emphatic 
response  from  the  pulpit:  "You  can  not  have 
it,  sir." 

In  reply,  the  doctor  said,  in  a  tone  which  he 
intended  should  be  heard  by  all  who  were  in  the 
house:  "Very  well,  sir;  the  Lord  willing,  there 
will  be  preaching  in  the  street,  opposite  this  house, 
to-morrow  morning  at  six  o'clock." 

The  night  passed,  and,  at  the  appointed  hour, 

a   congregation,    in    number   far   exceeding   what 

was   expected,    was   in   attendance   and   eager  to 

hear.     The  place  was  beautiful — a  green  plot  of 

grass,  shaded  by  a  grove  of  maples  that  had  been 

planted    to    adorn    a    country    churchyard.     The 

services  began  with  the  hymn : 

"How  firm  a  foundation,  ye  saints  of  the  Lord, 
Is  laid  for  your  faith  in  his  excellent  word." 

Prayer  was  offered  for  the  divine  favor  in  behalf 
of  the  people  assembled,  and  that  they  might  be 
possessed  of  the  same  spirit  that  Jesus  prayed  for, 
as  recorded  in  John  xvii.  This  chapter  was  read 
and  used  as  the  text  of  the  discourse  by  Dr. 
Belding.  The  union  of  all  who  believe  on  Christ, 
through  the  teaching  of  his  apostles,  was  the  main 
topic  of  the  address.       c-       ;..    . 

He  took  the  position  that  to  adopt  practically 
the  one  creed — the  Bible,  which  all  admit  theo- 
retically to  be  the  only  infallible  guide — and  the 
one  name — Christian  or  Disciple  of  Christ,  which 
is  an  honor  to  any  one — would  result  in  the  bring- 
ing together  of  all  who  sincerely  love  Christ,  and 


46  BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.   A.   BELDING. 

would  thus  lead  the  world  to  believe  that  "Jesus 
is  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God." 

The  discourse  was  listened  to  with  attention. 
At  the  close,  an  elderly  man  stepped  forward, 
and  said:  "  I  have  a  new  barn  a  short  distance 
from  here,  which  I  will  seat  and  light.  You  may 
preach  in  it  as  long  as  you  please." 

The  doctor  asked  how  soon  it  could  be  made 
in  readiness,  to  which  the  gentleman  answered : 
*'  By  three  o'clock  this  afternoon."  "  All  right," 
said  the  doctor;  "there  will  be  preaching,  the 
Lord  willing,  in  the  barn  this  afternoon  and 
evening  " 

The  announcement  made  and  the  meeting  ad- 
journed, the  people  gathered  in  little  groups  to 
discuss  what  they  had  heard — some  favorably  im- 
pressed, some  otherwise.  The  appointed  hour 
came,  and  the  people  were  again  assembled. 
After  the  opening  exercises,  which  were  con- 
ducted by  Dr.  Belding,  Alexander  Hall  addressed 
the  audience,  taking  as  a  theme,  "The  Power 
and  All-sufficiency  of  God's  Word  in  Converting 
and  Saving  Men."  The  train  of  thought  was 
entirely  new  to  his  hearers. 

At  evening  the  seats  were  well  filled.  The 
doctor  presented  the  Bible  as  containing  the  re- 
vealed will  of  God,  and  spoke  of  its  power  in 
creation,  providence  and  redemption.  After  the 
sermon,  he  announced  that  there  would  be  preach- 
ing each  afternoon  and  evening,  until  further 
notice. 

The   whole   community   was   aroused,   and  the 


BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.   W.    A.   BELDING.  47 

Bible  became  the  general  theme  of  conversation 
^mong  the  people.  Meetings  continued  for  some 
weeks,  and  scores  of  people  became  obedient  to 
the  faith.  Among  them  were  several  members 
of  the  Lutheran  Church,  who  had  looked  in  vain 
for  what  they  had  supposed  to  be  clearly  taught 
in  the  Scriptures,  viz.  :  "  infant  baptism."  When 
they  believed  the  preaching  of  Philip  concerning 
the  kingdom  of  God  and  the  name  of  Jesus 
Christ,  they  were  baptized,  both  men  and  women. 
(Acts  viii.) 

Here  was  organized  the  first  "  Cam^bcllitc 
church''''  that  has  come  to  our  knowledge.  Dr. 
Rufus  Belding,  father  of  Dr.  W.  A.  Belding,  had 
defined  a  Campbellite  to  be  one  who  believes  the 
doctrine  taught  by  Alexander  Campbell,  but  re- 
fuses to  obey  it.  From  twenty  to  twenty-five  men, 
mostly  members  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  formed 
what  they  called  a  "Campbellite"  church,  and 
appointed  their  elders  and  deacons. 

The  special  object  of  the  organization  was 
avowed  to  be  the  study  of  the  Scriptures  to  see 
whether  these  things  were  so.  The  greater  part 
of  them  were  subsequently  baptized,  and  became 
members  of  the  church  of  Christ  at  Sparta. 

Among  the  number  was  a  young  man  by  the 
name  of  Stametts,  who,  yielding  to  his  convic- 
tions of  right,  after  a  long  study  of  the  Bible,  was 
induced  to  confess  his  faith  in  Christ,  and  was 
baptized  by  Dr.  Belding. 

This  young  man's  father,  one  of  the  leading 
men  in  the  so-called  "  Evangelical  "  church,  being 


48  BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.   A.   BELDING. 

very  much  enraged  at  the  step  his  son  had  taken, 
drove  him  away  from  home.  Mrs.  Stametts  (the 
mother)  sent  for  Dr.  Belding  to  visit  her — the  doc- 
tor thought,  professionally.  But  he  found  out,  on 
going  there,  that  it  was  for  spiritual,  rather  than 
medical,  consultation.  Father  Stametts  was  so 
displeased  at  this  that  he  left  the  house  in  a  rage. 

A  few  years  afterward,  Elder  Jonas  Hartzell 
went  into  the  neighborhood  and  delivered  a  few 
discourses  in  the  German  language.  Mr.  Stametts, 
being  a  German  by  birth,  was  induced  to  hear 
him,  and  soon,  like  thousands  of  others,  fell  in 
love  with  the  simple  truth.  After  a  time,  he,  too, 
was  immersed  by  Bro.  Hartzell. 

Dr.  Belding,  hearing  of  the  change  which  had 
taken  place,  determined  to  visit  Sparta,  and  call 
upon  the  adopted  brother.  This  he  did,  and,  as 
he  was  tying  his  horse  to  the  post,  Father  Sta- 
metts, standing  in  the  door,  lifted  the  glasses  from 
his  eyes  and  discovered  the  newcomer.  He  has- 
tened to  the  gate,  crying  out:  "  Vy,  Brudder 
Belding,  is  dat  you !  You  looks  a  heap  more 
like  a  man  as  you  used  to  do  ;  for  you  used  to 
look  like  de  werry  debil.  I  always  thought  de 
debil  and  de  Campbellite  breacher  looked  zhoost 
alike." 


CHAPTER  XII. 

At  a  later  meeting  held  in  Sparta,  the  doctor 
delivered  a  discourse  upon  "  The  Division  of  the 
Word,"  showing  that  no  new  revelations  are  now 
made  to  preachers,  but  that  the  injunction  to 
rightly  divide  the  Word  of  tinith  is  imperative. 
He  then  pointed  out  that  the  Old  Testament  con- 
tains the  account  of  creation,  of  the  dealings  of 
God  with  the  human  family  for  about  sixteen 
hundred  years,  of  the  flood  and  the  repeopling  of 
the  earth,  together  with  a  further  history  of  the 
world  for  twenty-four  hundred  years  until  the 
coming  of  Christ ;  that  it  contains  the  law,  the 
prophets  and  the  Psalms,  and  that  the  special 
design  of  it  is  to  point  the  reader  to  Christ  as 
the  Messiah  of  God — God's  Son  and  man's  only 
Savior. 

He  said  further  that  the  first  four  books  of  the 
New  Testament  give  an  account  of  the  birth,  life, 
death,  burial  and  resurrection  of  Christ ;  his  com- 
mission to  the  apostles,  and  his  ascension  to 
heaven.  The  Book  of  Acts  narrates  some  of  the 
apostles'  experiences  with  sinners,  answering  the 
question  :  "  What  must  I  do  to  be  saved?  "  (See 
Acts   ii.    38  ;    ix.   6  ;   xxii.    16  ;  x.  4,  48  ;  also   xvi. 

30-33-) 

The  Epistles  were  written  to  believing,  penitent, 
baptized  persons ;  to  the  individual,  the  family, 
the  congregation  and  the  church,  scattered  abroad 
everywhere.  Their  design  was  to  teach  how  to 
live  as  Christians  and  form  a  Christlike  character. 
(49) 


50  BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.   A.   BELDING. 

The  Book  of  Revelation  describes  the  Church 
of  Christ,  from  its  organization  on  the  day  of 
Pentecost  until  the  end  of  time  ;  telling  of  past 
events,  others  now  transpiring,  and  still  others 
yet  to  come,  closing  with  a  description  of  the 
Christian's  final  home. 

When  the  discourse  was  ended  and  the  meeting 
dismissed,  an  old  man,  Dr.  Tuttle,  stepped  ibr- 
ward.  Taking  Dr.  Belding  by  the  hand,  he  said  : 
"My  young  brother,  I  have  been  a  preacher  in 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  for  thirty-six 
years,  and  have  my-  license  in  my  pocket  But 
I  have  learned  more  about  the  Bible  this  evening 
than  in  all  my  life  before.  Many,  many  things 
which  have  always  been  mysterious  to  me  have 
been  made  plain  by  the  division  which  you  have 
given  us." 

After  hearing  a  few  discourses,  he  further  said : 
*'  I  have  been  a  regenerated  man  for  nearly  fifty 
years,  but  have  never  been  born.  I  wish  to  be 
baptized."  His  request  was  granted,  and  he  was 
immersed  in  Sandy  Creek  by  Bro.  John  Whittaker. 

To  show  what  prejudice  will  do,  we  will  further 
state  that  his  baptism  took  place  Lord's-day  morn- 
ing. In  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day,  and  -at 
his  regular  place  of  preaching,  at  the  close  of 
his  sermon,  he  asked  the  church  for  a  letter 
of  commendation,  saying:  "I  have  my  license 
from  the  conference,  but,  wishing  to  visit  the 
western  part  of  Ohio,  I  would  like  a  letter,  pro- 
vided you  think  I  am  worthy  of  one."  This  was 
freely  granted,  and  a  letter  given  him.     But  when 


BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W,  A.   BELDING.  5  I 

it  was  ascertained  that  he  had  been  immersed,  the 
report  was  at  once  circulated  that  he  ought  to  be 
excluded  from  the  conference  for  immoral  con- 
duct. He  did  not  wait  for  the  action  of  that  body, 
but,  having  been  born  of  water  and  the  Spirit, 
he  took  his  place  among  his  brethren  in  Christ, 
and  continued  to  preach  the  Word  until  death 
■called  him  to  lay  his  armor  down. 

Soon  after  this,  Dr.  Belding  moved  from  Mi- 
nerva, Stark  Co.,  O.,  to  Doylestown,  Wayne 
County-  Here  he  entered  into  partnership  wath 
Dr.  A.  L.  Simmons,  whose  wife  was  a  sister  to 
Mrs.  Belding,  but  had  recently  died.  Through 
the  instrumentality  of  Dr.  Belding,  a  small  con- 
gregation of  Disciples  was  formed  in  Doylestown  ; 
so  also  in  Slankertown,  two  and  a  half  miles  away. 

To  these,  as  well  as  other  churches,  he  con- 
tinued to  minister,  without  money  and  without 
price,  until  it  was  thought  best  for  him  to  remove 
to  the  latter  place.  This  he  did  in  1843,  board- 
ing for  some  time  with  the  family  of  Jacob 
Huffman,  who  was  an  earnest  Christian  and  warm 
friend. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

In  the  small  village  of  Slankertown  was  a 
hotel,  kept  by  a  German,  for  whom  the  village 
was  named.  At  this  place  liquors  were  freely 
dispensed,  which  was  quite  a  trial  to  the  doctor, 
with  his  ^strong  temperance  principles.  He  re- 
peatedly remonstrated  with  Mr.  Slanker,  and  tried 
to  persuade  him  to  abandon  the  sale  of  intoxicants 
and  keep  a  temperance  house.  For  a  time  Mr. 
Slanker  intimated  that  he  would  do  this.  But  he 
at  last  declared  that,  if  he  should  give  up  the  sale 
of  whisky,  he  and  his  family  would  starve.  The 
doctor,  being  somewhat  excited,  replied  :  "  If  you 
do  not  keep  a  temperance  house,  I  will."  Upon 
this  they  parted,  but  met  again  in  a  few  days  and 
resumed  the  conversation. 

The  doctor  reaffirmed  his  former  statement, 
and  asked  Mr.  Slanker:  "  Have  you  ever  known 
me  to  lie?  My  discipline  says  that  I  must  not 
lie,  and  I  shall  not  begin  here." 

Matters  looked  very  discouraging  to  a  would-be 
hotel-seeker.  He  had  but  a  small  house  ;  but 
that  was  not  the  greatest  obstacle  to  be  overcome. 
His  wife  was  an  invalid,  and  had  not  walked  a 
step  for  many  years.  But  he  believed  that  where 
there  was  a  will  a  way  could  be  found.  His 
struggles  in  earlier  life  gave  him  strength  and 
courage,  and  he  at  once  set  about  enlarging  his 
house  and  barn.  Within  four  weeks  he  put  out  a 
sign  with  this  inscription:  "Temperance  House, 
by  W.  A.  Belding."  This  was  made  so  con- 
(52) 


BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.   A.   BKLDING.  53 

spicuous  that  it  could  be  read  from  one  end  of 
the  village  to  the  other.  The  name  was  familiar, 
his  father  having  kept  a  hotel  for  many  years,  so 
he  received  a  steady  patronage. 

Imagine  a  man  practicing  medicine,  preaching 
the  gospel,  and  now,  with  an  invalid  and  almost 
helpless  wife,  attempting  to  run  a  hotel.  But 
this  he  did,  and  was  prospered  in  all.  He  finally 
resolved  to  dispose  of  the  hotel,  abandon  the 
practice  of  medicine,  and  devote  his  life  in 
future  exclusively  to  the  proclamation  of  the  gos- 
pel of  Christ.  Ere  long  an  apparent  opening 
presented  itself. 

During  the  year  1849,  a  man  who  owned  a 
piece  of  land  in  Shalersville  made  a  proposal  to 
exchange  places  with  him.  The  terms  were  soon 
arranged,  and  the  contract  resulted  in  the  re- 
moval of  Dr.  Belding  to  the  extreme  southwest 
corner  of  the  township  of  Shalersville.  That 
same  year  he  began  preaching  for  the  church  at 
Shalersville  Center. 

He  fitted  up  two  rooms  of  a  dilapidated  log 
house  that  had  come  into  his  possession  with  the 
land  before  mentioned.  It  was  thought  that  the 
wife  and  boy — Rufus  E. ,  now  aboilt  seven  years 
old — could  manage  to  winter  there  in  tolerable 
comfort.  When  the  family  was  settled,  he  com- 
menced a  series  of  meetings  in  a  schoolhouse 
near  by.  The  interest  increased  until  the  house 
would  not  hold  the  audiences. 

A  lot  of  wild  and  reckless  boys  were  in  the 
habit  of  attending  the  services,  concerning  whom 


54  BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.   W.   A.   BELDING. 

the  doctor's  nearest  neighbor  had  said,  by  way 
of  warning :  "  You  must  not  leave  your  carriage, 
or  anything  else  which  these  boys  can  get  hold 
of,  outside  ;  for  they  will  surely  destroy  it  or 
carry  it  off  for  you.  Indeed,  they  often  take  my 
carriage  wheels  and  hang  them  in  the  tops  of 
the  trees." 

The  doctor  had  not  forgotten  that  he  was  once 
young.  He  accordingly  treated  the  boys  kindly, 
and  in  turn  found  that  they  were  always  ready 
to  do  him  any  favor  that  he  asked. 

During  the  meeting,  several  converts  requested 
baptism.  The  stream  w^as  frozen  over,  but  the 
boys  were  on*  hand.  They  cleared  away  the 
ice,  held  the  doctor's  overcoat  and  hat,  and 
helped  him  into  and  out  of  the  water,  thus  show- 
ing themselves  to  be  among  the  warmest  friends 
he  had  found  in  the  neighborhood. 

The  winter  passed  and  the  interest  was  such 
in  the  community  about  the  center  of  Shalers- 
ville  that  a  strong  desire  was  expressed  for  the 
doctor  to  move  into  their  midst  and  devote  more 
time  to  them.  This  necessarily  involved  another 
change.  Dennis  C.  Day,  a  good  brother,  pro- 
posed an  exchange  of  farms  with  the  doctor, 
but  seven  hundred  dollars  was  required  by  the 
doctor  to  pay  the  difference  in  value.  How  he 
should  do  it  and  continue  preaching  was  the 
question,  for  he  had  promised  the  Lord  that  he 
would  continue  to  preach  while  he  had  strength. 

Ascertaining  by  accident  that  Albert  Under- 
wood,  the  keeper  of  the    poorhouse,   was    about 


BIOGRAPHY    OP"    DR.   W.    A.   BELDING.  55 

to  leave  that  situation,  the  doctor  called  on  -him 
and  induced  him  to  purchase  a  half  interest  in 
the  new  farm  for  fifteen  hundred  dollars.  Mr. 
Underwood  worked  the  farm,  while  the  doctor 
preached.  But,  a  year  or  so  afterwards,  the 
doctor's  father.  Dr.  Rufus  Belding,  wished  to 
join  his  son.  The  doctor  agreed  to  purchase  Mr. 
Underwood's  half,  which  his  father,  in  turn, 
agreed  to  buy  from  him.  But  after  the  doctor 
had  given  his  notes  for  Mr.  Underwood's  interest, 
the  father  suddenly  died.  How  to  pay  Mr.  Under- 
wood fifteen  hundred  dollars  was  the  question. 
However,  as  usual,  a  way  was  found.  He  sold 
the  half  interest  to  his  brother  Edwin,  who  came 
from  Randolph,  and  worked  the  farm,  while  the 
doctor  gave  his  whole  time  and  attention  to  the 
work  of  the  gospel  ministry. 

The  work  of  evangelizing  seemed  to  be  his 
strong  point,  and  nearly  one  hundred  were  gath- 
ered into  the  Shalersville  Church. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

In  a  meeting  at  which  Thomas  Munnell  was 
assisting  him,  a  certain  young  lady  made  con- 
fession of  her  faith  in  Christ.  While  the  doctor 
was  consulting  with  her  and  arranging  for  the 
baptism,  the  young  lady's  brother  stepped  in 
between  his  sister  and  the  doctor,  declaring  that 
he  would  shoot  any  man  who  attempted  to  baptize 
his  sister.  The  doctor  very  calmly,  but  decidedly, 
said  to  him  that  if  his  sister  wished  to  be  bap- 
tized and  desired  him  to  do  it,  he  would  undertake 
it.  The  brother  then  said  that  his  sister  wished 
to  see  her  mother,  to  which  the  doctor  replied  : 
"  She  can  do  so  if  she  desires."  He  asked  a 
young  man  who  stood  near  to  drive  his  (the  doc- 
tor's) carriage  to  the  door.  The  lady  and  her 
sister  stepped  into  the  carriage,  when  a  Jriend 
of  her  brother's  said  that  he  would  drive  for 
them.  "Step  in  and  do  so,''  said  the  doctor. 
The  young  man  declined,  but,  upon  the  doctor's 
insisting,  he  finally  accepted  the  invitation  and 
drove  off'. 

By  this  time  the  excitement  was  running  high, 
and  some  of  the  people  who  knew  the  driver  well 
said  to  the  doctor :  "  You  will  not  see  your  horses 
and  carriage  again  to-night."  But  he  replied 
that  he  had  no  fear  of  that.  They  did  not  return 
for  some  time.  So  Bro.  Munnell  and  the  doctor 
thought  it  might  be  well  for  them  to  go  to  the 
home  of  the  young  lady  to  see  what  was  detaining 
them.  Upon  their  arrival,  they  found  the  young 
(56) 


BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.  A.   BELDING.  57 

lady  in  tears,  pleading  with  her  mother  for  con- 
sent, which  she  positively  refused  to  give.  After 
urgent  appeals  and  arguments,  she  at  last  yielded. 
The  doctor  took  possession  of  his  team,  and,  with 
the  young  ladies,  Bro.  Munnell  and  the  young 
man  who  had  driven  from  the  church,  hastened  to 
the  creek  at  Bro.  Davis  Haven's,  where  the  bap- 
tism was  to  be  administered.  It  was  nearly  or 
quite  twelve  o'clock,  and  Bro.  Haven's  house  was 
crowded  to  overflowing. 

Some  time  was  spent  in  prayer,  song  and  ex- 
hortation. Dr.  Belding  remarked,  "There  is  a 
young  lady" — pointing  towards  the  sister  of  the 
one  about  to  be  baptized — "who  told  me  this 
evening,  that  if  it  were  not  for  her  associates, 
she  also  would  confess  and  obey  her  Savior, 
which  she  believed  to  be  her  duty." 

A  young  man  standing  near  her,  after  whisper- 
ing to  her,  said:  "She  says  that  she  never 
said  so." 

The  doctor  turned  to  her,  and  asked  :  "  Harriet, 
did  5^ou  not  tell  me  that  this  evening?  " 

"  I  did,"  she  audibly  replied. 

Another  invitation  was  [extended,  which  four 
more  accepted,  and  fourteen  were  immersed  into 
Christ  without  any  disturbance  whatever. 

While  living  in  Shalersville,  the  doctor  spent 
a  portion  of  his  time  in  the  surrounding  towns. 
A  meeting  was  appointed  in  Garrettsville,  where 
he  was  expected  to  preach  in  the  evening  He 
drove  from  his  home  in  the  afternoon  and  stopped 
at  the  house   of  Bro.  Rudolph,  who  was   one  of 


58  BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.   A.   BELDING. 

the  elders  of  the  church.  As  the  hour  for  meet- 
ing drew  near,  it  rained  in  torrents.  But  Bro. 
Rudolph,  who  was  a  brave  soldier,  said :  "  We 
will  go  to  meeting,  for  we  must  not  let  trifles 
keep  us  from  the  performance  of  duty."  Soon 
his  carriage  was  at  the  door,  and  his  family  and 
the  doctor  got  into  it.  The  rain  increased,  and, 
just  as  the  elder  and  the  preacher  arrived  at  the 
church,  the  sexton  was  on  the  steps,  about  to 
open  and  light  the  house.  But  the  sexton  said  : 
'•It  is  useless  to  open  this  house  to-night,  for 
no  one  will  be  here."  .  Bro.  Rudolph  turned  to 
the  doctor  and  asked:  "  Shall  we  get  out  of  the 
carriage?"  The  doctor  replied:  "Do  as  you 
think  best,  for  I  will  take  no  responsibility  in  the 
matter."  Bro.  Rudolph  turned  his  horses  and 
drove  home.  On  the  way  they  met  two  men 
going  to  meeting,  and  in  the  morning  the  doctor 
met  a  young  lady,  who  said  she  was  waiting  for 
the  house  to  be  lighted  and  was  intending  to  go 
to  church.  This  caused  him  to  renew  a  former 
pledge,  that,  if  he  had  an  appointment  to  preach 
and  had  but  one  hearer,  he  would  preach  to 
that  one. 

Only  a  few  weeks  had  elapsed  when  he  went 
to  Streetsboro  to  fill  an  engagement  in  a  school- 
house.  Upon  entering,  he  found  it  empty.  He 
took  his  Bible,  and,  while  he  was  reading,  three 
men  came  in.  Two  of  them  he  knew  to  be  mem- 
bers of  the  church,  while  one  was  not.  The  rain 
was  falling  copiously,  and  one  of  the  brethren 
proposed  that  they  all  go  across  the  street  to  hear 


BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.    A.   BELDING.  59 

what  the  Baptist  minister  might  have  to  say.  The 
doctor  said  that  if  they  would  remain,  he  would 
preach  to  them.  They  assented,  and  he  addressed 
the  two  brethren  for  perhaps  thirty  minutes.  He 
then  turned  and  spoke  to  the  man  of  the  world, 
closing  with  a  personal  appeal:  "Do  you  believe 
what  I  have  said  ?  "  He  replied  :"  I  do."  "Do 
you  intend  ever  to  become  a  Christian?"  He 
answered  promptly:  "  I  do."  The  question  was 
then  put,  "When?"  and  as  promptly  answered: 
"  I  will  start  to-day."  The  confession  of  his 
faith  in  Christ  was  then  taken,  and  the  preacher 
and  congregation  repaired  to  the  stream,  where 
he  was  buried  in  the  baptismal  grave,  arising  to 
walk  in  "newness  of  life."  He  has  often  since 
been  heard  to  say :  "  If  the  house  had  been  full,  I 
would,  doubtless,  have  gone  as  I  came  ;  but,  the 
preach"ing  being  personal,  I  could  not  resist  it." 
Dr.  Belding  was  engaged  in  a  meeting  in 
Ravenna,  O.,  when,  in  response  to  the  gospel 
invitation,  a  lady  confessed  her  faith  in  Christ. 
Her  husband  left  the  house  in  a  rage.  When 
the  wife  returned  to  her  home,  he  met  her  at  the 
door,  and,  in  a  most  profane  and  abusive  manner, 
forbade  her  going  to  the  church  again.  On  Mon 
day  morning  he  was  so  angry  that  he  left  home 
for  his  school  (he  was  a  teacher)  without  his 
breakfast.  His  wife  was  very  unhappy  until 
Wednesday,  near  the  middle  of  the  day,  when, 
on  looking  out  the  window,  she  saw  him  coming 
home.  On  arriving  at  the  house,  he  asked  her  to 
come'to  the  door  where  he  had  met  her  on  that 


6o  BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.   W.   A.  BELDING. 

previous  evening.  Making  an  humble  apology, 
he  asked  her  to  forgive  him,  saying  that  if  she 
would  go  with  him,  he,  too,  would  confess  his 
Savior.  This  he  did,  and  they  were  forthwith 
baptized . 

It  is  better  sometimes  to  move  people  even  to 
anger  than  to  have  them  remain  in  a  state  of 
indifference.     Many   cases   bear   witness   to   this. 

While  an  invitation  hymn  was  being  sung  at 
Pompey  Hill,  N.  Y. ,  the  leader  of  the  music 
being  an  unbeliever,  the  doctor  asked  that  the 
singing  cease  for  a  moment.  He  inquired  if 
there  were  not  persons  in  the  room  who  were 
singing  sentiments  that  they  did  not  believe.  The 
leader,  Mr.  Ellis,  threw  ao*vn  his  book,  took  his 
hat  and  left  the  house,  looking  mad  enough  to 
fight.  He  told  his  wife  that  he  would  never 
enter  the  church  again. 

Two  years  or  more  passed.  The  doctor  was 
holding  a  meeting  at  Cato,  Cayuga  Co.,  N.  Y. 
Mrs.  Ellis,  of  Pompey,  came  into  the  house.  At 
thf;  close  of  the  services,  the  doctor  inquired  after 
the  welfare  of  herself  and  family.  She  burst 
into  tears,  and,  after  she  had .  controlled  her  feel- 
ings sufficiently,  related  to  him  the  story  concern- 
ing her  husband,  as  above  stated.  The  doctor, 
who  was  accustomed  to  looking  on  the  bright 
side  of  the  picture,  said:  "Do  not  grieve,  for 
I  intend  going  to  Pompey  when  this  meeting 
is  over." 

The  time  came,  and  the  meeting  in  Pompey 
was  in  progress.     Mr.  Ellis  brought  his  family  to 


BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.  A.  BELDING.  6l 

church  and  took  them  home.  As  the  people  were 
getting  into  their  carriages  after  service,  the  doc- 
tor heard  Mr.  Ellis  asking  Bro.  Joseph  Garrett 
and  wife  to  go  home  to  dine  with  them.  The 
doctor  said  to  himself:  "Now  is  my  time." 
Stepping  up  to  Mrs.  Ellis,  he  said:  "I  think  I 
will  take  dinner  with  you  to-day."  She  re- 
sponded: "I  wish  you  would."  Dr.  Belding 
stepped  into  the  carriage  with  Bro.  Garrett's  peo- 
ple, and  they  arrived  at  the  house  a  little  in 
advance  of  the  family.  When  Mr.  Ellis  drove 
up,  the  doctor,  in  a  very  jovial  manner,  came 
forward,  and,  reaching  out  his  hand,  said :  "  How 
do  you  do,  Bro.  Ellis?" 

Mr.  Ellis  extended  his  hand  rather  reluctantly, 
and,  in  a  reserved  manner,  said:  "How  are 
you?"  The  doctor  continued:  "I  don't  know 
that  you  can  put  up  with  such  fare  as  we  have 
here,  but  we  would  like  to  have  you  come  in  and 
take  some  dinner  with  us."  "All  right,"  said 
Mr.  Ellis.  The  doctor  went  to  the  barn,  assisted 
in  putting  up  the  horses,  looked  over  the  farm, 
went  to  the  house  and  took  dinner.  After  a  good 
social  time,  as  the  hour  for  evening  meeting  drew 
nigh,  he  said  to  Mr.  Ellis  :  "  Come,  hitch  up  that 
nice  team  and  take  us  to  church.  We  can  not 
afford  to  walk  with  such  good  horses  standing 
idle."  To  this  he  readily  consented.  The  doc- 
tor sat  beside  him  on  the  way  to  church,  and 
said :  "  Hitch  your  horses  under  the  shed  and  go 
to  meeting  with  us."  He  made  no  reply,  but 
the  doctor  repeated  the  invitation  more  earnestly. 


02  BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.   W.   A.   BELDING. 

when  Mr.  Ellis  reluctantly  said:  "I  will  think 
of  it."  The  friends  alighted  and  entered  the 
house.  Presently,  to  the  astonishment  of  all,  Mr. 
Ellis  came  in.  The  next  evening  found  him  in 
attendance,  and  the  third  day  witnessed  what  his 
friends  had  long  desired,  but  had  never  dared 
hope  for  —  the  confession  of  his  confidence  in 
Christ. 

After  his  baptism  and  change  of  raiment,  the 
doctor  addressed  him  :  "  Well,  Bro.  Robert,  how 
do  you  feel?"  His  answer  was:  "I  feel  good, 
and  not  much  as  I  did  two  years  ago,  wh^n  I 
angrily  left  the  church."  He  added:  "Now  I 
am  thankful  for  the  merited  rebuke.  It  was  that 
which  saved  me." 

Another  incident  of  a  similar  nature  occurred 
in  Chardon,  Geauga  Co.,  O.  An  interesting 
meeting  was  in  progress.  The  congregation  was 
singing  the  hymn  of  invitation,  when,  suddenly, 
the  doctor  called  out,  "  Please  stop  singing," 
and  asked :  "  Which  is  the  worse — to  tell  a  false- 
hood or  to  sing  it?  "  One  of  the  leading  singers, 
<i  daughter  of  the  resident  pastor,  drew  her  veil 
over  her  face,  stepped  across  the  aisle,  and  dropped 
into  her  seat.  With  a  deep  sigh  the  pastor,  Bro. 
Collins,  exclaimed:  "  Oh,  dear!"  Bro.  Collins 
and  the  doctor  were  singing  from  the  same  book. 
The  doctor  replied:  "Bro.  Collins,  don't  be 
alarmed,  for  I  think  I  know  Lizzie  well,  and 
I  do  not  believe  I  have  missed  the  mark."  He 
was  right,  for  in  a  day  or  two  Lizzie  was  obedient 
to  her  Savior. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

During  the  years  of  Dr.  Beiding's  stay  in 
Shalersville,  he  was  called  to  fill  an  appointment 
of  Calvin  Smith's  in  Austintown,  O.,  from  which 
Bro  Smith  was  detained  by  sickness.  The  meet- 
ing had  continued  but  a  short  time  when  the 
brethren  of  the  church  came,  and,  in  great  dis- 
tress, begged  of  the  doctor  that  he  would  give 
no  invitation  for  "backsliders"  to  return  to  the 
church.  They  feared  that  a  man,  who  in  former 
years  had  been  excluded  from  the  church  for  his 
continued  litigation  and  contention  with  a  fellow- 
townsman,  might  ask  for  admission.  The  two 
men  could  never  meet  without  exchanging  angry 
words,  and  two  or  three  times  had  come  to  blows. 
All  felt  certain  that,  if  he  returned,  the  church 
must  have  trouble  with  him,  and  would,  no  doubt, 
be  again  compelled  to  withdraw  the  hand  of  fel- 
lowship from  him. 

He  and  his  avowed  enemy  were  in  the  house 
at  every  service,  but  as  far  removed  from  each 
other  as  they  well  could  be.  The  doctor,  who 
declares  that  by  nature  he  is  cowardly,  studied 
carefully  to  avoid  all  suggestions  that  might  be 
construed  into  an  invitation  for  the  wanderer  to 
return  to  the  fold,  and  really  failed  to  do  his  duty. 
Upon  one  occasion,  when  speaking  of  the  power 
of  the  gospel  to  make  the  warmest  friends  of  bit- 
terest enemies — able  even  to  turn  "a  raven  to  a 
dove,  a  lion  to  a  lamb  " — he  mustered  up  courage, 
after  breathing  an  earnest  prayer  for  help,  to  do 
(63) 


64  BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.  A.   BELDING. 

his  duty.  He  asked:  "Are  there  not  several 
present  who  have  known  the  joy  arising  from  the 
assurance  of  sins  forgiven  by  obedience  to  Christ, 
and  the  hope  of  eternal  life — who  have  wandered 
from  their  Father's  house  and  feel  like  returning? 
If  so,  let  them  come."  No  sooner  was  the  oppor- 
tunity offered  than  the  wanderer  came  to  the 
front.  At  the  same  moment  the  other  man  ap- 
peared, coming  from  the  opposite  side  of  the 
house.  Consternation  filled  the  hearts  of  the 
congregation,  and  especially  that  of  the  doctor, 
who  felt  that  a  collision  was  inevitable,  and  that 
the  contentious  parties  would  break  up  the  meet- 
ing with  an  excited  row.  But  great  was  the 
relief  when  the  two  men,  who  for  many  years 
had  been  at  swords'  points,  met  as  friends,  throw- 
ing their  arms  around  each  other,  and,  each  with 
his  head  resting  on  the  other's  shoulder,  with 
tears  of  penitence  confessed  his  faults,  each  asking 
the  forgiveness  of  the  other,  of  the  congregation, 
and  of  God. 

This  was  one  of  the  most  touching  scenes  of 
the  kind  that  Dr.  Belding  has  ever  witnessed, 
and  one  of  the  most  convincing  evidences  of  the 
power  of  the  gospel  of  Christ  over  the  hearts  and 
lives  of  men. 

"How  sweet  the  name  of  Jesus  sounds 
In  a  believer's  ear; 
It  soothes  his  sorrows,  heals  his  wounds, 
And  drives  away  his  fear. 

"It  makes  the  wounded  spirit  whole, 

And  calms  the  troubled  breast; 
'Tis  manna  to  the  hungry  soul, 
And  to  the  weary  rest." 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

On  the  twentieth  day  of  August,  1855,  in  com- 
pany with  his  brother  Edwin  and  two  friends, 
Harmon  Lake  and  Wallace  Hunt  (the  latter  of 
Auburn,  N.  Y.),  the  doctor  left  home  for  the 
West.  The  boys,  Edwin  and  his  companions, 
had  with  them  ten  horses,  which  they  designed 
selling  in  Chicago,  if  not  successful  in  disposing 
of  them  before  reaching  that  place.  Mrs.  Belding 
accompanied  the  doctor,  but  was  to  leave  the 
party  at  the  then  celebrated  "water  cure"  at 
Berlin,  O.  On  the  second  day,  towards  evening, 
the  party  arrived  at  Berlin,  where  Mrs.  Belding 
remained,  while  the  rest  of  the  party  pushed  on. 
During  the  third  day  the  doctor  traded  his  black 
team  for  a  gold  watch,  and  traveled  with  the  rest 
of  his  party  to  Maumee  City,  where  they  paused 
to  inspect  old  Fort  Meigs.  They  found  some 
relics  of  battle,  among  which  were  several  human 
teeth.  Hastily  leaving  Maumee  City,  where  over 
half  of  the  peoplfe  were  sick — it  being  a  ver}^ 
unhealthy  place — they  advanced,  stopping  occa- 
sionall}^  to  call  on  an  acquaintance.  The  doctor 
preached  nearly  every  evening. 

They  passed  through  Hillsdale,  Coldwater, 
Bronson,  White  Pigeon  and  Elkhart,  to  South 
Bend,  Ind.,  which  they  reached  on  the  31st  of 
August.  The  4th  of  September  found  them  in 
Chicago  This  was  the  doctor's  first  sight  of 
that  now  tremendous  and  unrivaled  city,  and 
he  described  it  as  "  no  citv  at  all  ;  very  rough, 
(65) 


66  BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.   A.   BELDING. 

uneven,  unpaved,  a  malarial  place  of  a  few  thou- 
sand people,  and  in  no  way  attractive  or  prom- 
ising." 

A  sister  in  Austintown,  O.,  after  supporting 
herself  and  an  invalid  mother  for  a  number  of 
years  by  her  needle,  left  fifty-one  dollars  and  a 
few  cents  in  the  hands  of  Brethren  Joseph  Karl 
and  Joseph  Kyle,  with  the  request  that  they 
should  use  it  to  the  best  of  their  judgment  to 
pay  for  preaching  the  gospel.  Dr.  Belding  went 
to  a  place  near  New  Castle,  Pa.,  called  Pump- 
kintown,  where  he  preached  ten  days,  and  was 
paid  one  dollar  per  day  from  this  fund. 

He  has  said  that  he  scarcely  ever  felt  the  in- 
spiration to  preach  that  he  felt  there,  as  if  a  voice 
from  the  grave  was  constantly  urging  him  to 
make  known  to  his  fellowmen  the  wondrous  love 
of  God.  Three  other  churches  were  then  brought 
into  existence  by  that  small,  but  liberal,  donation. 

The  year  1855  was  spent  almost  entirely  in 
holding  meetings  and  soliciting  funds  for  the 
General  Missionary  Convention.  A  meeting  held 
by  the  doctor  at  South  Butler,  N.  Y.,  resulted  in 
the  immersion  of  sixty-seven  persons. 

From  South  Butler  he  went  to  New  York  City, 
where  he  remained  but  a  few  days,  immersing 
nineteen.  We  find  him  next  at  Danbury,  Conn., 
tarrying  at  the  home  of  Bro.  E.  A.  Mallory  (a 
long-tried  friend) ,  and  holding  a  meeting  in  the 
Danbury  Church.  The  result  of  this  effort  was 
the  adding  of  between  fifty  and  sixty  to  the  mem- 
bership. 


BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.  A.  BELDING.  67 

The  last  evening  of  the  meeting,  after  closing 
the  church  and  upon  returning  home  in  company 
with  Bro.  Mallory  and  wife,  they  found  awaiting 
them  two  young  ladies,  employes  of  Bro.  Mallory. 
They  had  been  steadily  attending  the  meetings, 
and  were  now  crying  and  sobbing  because  the 
meeting  was  past,  and  they  had  not  found  cour- 
age to  confess  their  belief  in  Christ.  A  service 
was  held  then  and  there,  for  their  dear  sakes,  in 
which  they  confessed  their  Savior,  and  stated 
their  desire  to  be  immersed.  It  was  then  between 
twelve  and  one  o'clock  at  night,  and  the  doctor 
was  to  leave  the  town  early  in  the  morning. 
Arousing  a  few  of  the  brethren  who  lived  near 
by,  the  party  started  for  a  neighboring  stream. 
Before  they  had  gone  many  rods,  a  large  distillery 
began  to  burn  fiercely,  and  afforded  them  ample 
light  for  the  ceremony. 

During  all  this  time  his  home  was  in  Shaler- 
ville.  But,  in  1856,  he  sold  his  remaining  interest 
in  the  farm  to  a  brother-in-law  of  Edwin's,  El  wood 
Hamilton,  and  moved  to  Mentor,  Lake  Co.,  O., 
early  in  1857. 

At  a  yearly  meeting  held  in  Randolph,  Portage 
County,  in  June,  1852,  he  had  the  pleasure  of 
baptizing  Rufus  E.,  at  that  time  his  only  son, 
aged  eleven  years,  in  the  stream  in  which  he  was 
himself  immersed  some  years  before. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

Soon  after  moving  to  Mentor,  the  doctor  bought 
a  place  of  about  ten  acres  in  the  center  of  the 
township,  and  within  sight  of  the  Garfield  resi- 
dence, which  has  since  made  Mentor  known  to 
the  nation.  While  engaged  in  holding  a  meeting 
at  Bedford,  O. ,  soon  after  he  had  moved  his 
family  to  Mentor,  an  incident  occurred.  During 
the  singing  of  a  song  of  invitation,  Dr.  J.  P. 
Robinson,  who  was  extremely  anxious  for  the 
salvation  of  his  only  sister,  approached  her,  and 
kindly  said:  "  Come,  go  with  us,  and  w^e  wall  do 
you  good."  She  shook  her  head,  and  he  returned 
to  his  place  near  the  pulpit.  Not  feeling  satisfied, 
he  went  to  her  again,  but  with  the  same  result. 
Still  the  brother  could  not  feel  content,  and  re- 
turned the  third  time,  pleading  with  her  to  yield 
to  the  invitation  of  the  loving  Savior,  but  again 
she  refused.  The  meeting  closed,  and,  soon  after, 
the  young  lady  was  taken  suddenly  ill,  and  drew 
rapidly  near  the  end  of  life.  Calling  her  brother 
to  her  bedside,  she  said:  "You  came  to  me  once, 
twice,  three  times,  and  urged  me  to  confess  my 
faith  in  Christ,  and  I  as  stubbornly^  refused  3-our 
loving  opportunity.  Why  did yini  not  come  again? 
I  meant  in  my  heart  to  yield,  but  you  did  not 
come,  and  I  was  left — yes,  left  to  die  without 
hope."  "  Go  into  the  highways  and  hedge?,  and 
compel  them  to  come  in,"  said  our  blessed  Savior. 

Being  called  to  Bainbridge,  O.,  to  spend  a  few 
days,  he  was  invited  to  preach  in  the  Congrega- 
(68) 


BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.   W.  A.   BELDING.  69 

tional  Church.  The  invitation  was  accepted. 
During  the  series  of  discourses  which  he  gave, 
there  was  one  of  his  hearers — a  lady  from  New 
York — who  became  deeply  impressed  with  the 
truth  of  what  she  heard.  She  sent  the  doctor  a 
note,  asking  him  to  call  on  her,  expressing  a 
desire  to  converse  with  him  privately.  He 
promptly  complied  with  her  request,  and  found 
her  an  intelligent  and  conscientious  woman,  a 
member  of  the  M.  E.  Church.  She  said  she  was 
troubled  about  her  baptism,  concerning  which  she 
had  never  had  a  doubt  until  she  heard  the  few 
discourses  delivered  by  him,  one  of  which  was  a 
discussion  of  the  subject,  "A  Penitent  Believer." 

After  asking  a  number  of  questions,  which  were 
answered  to  her  satisfaction,  she  asked  if  he 
would  baptize  her,  and  allow  her  to  retain  her 
membership  iu  the  M.  E.  Church,  and  added : 
"There  is  no  other  where  I  live,  and  I  do  not 
know  as  I  would  join  one  if  there  was."  To 
this  question  the  doctor  answered:  "I  will  bap- 
tize you  with  the  understanding  that  you  will 
follow  the  teaching  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and 
the  apostles.  If  they  make  of  you  a  Methodist, 
he  one;  if  a  Presbyterian,  he  one;  if  a  Baptist, 
or  even  a  Mormon,  he  one.  In  short,  go  where 
the  Bible  leads  you,  and  he  what  the  Bible  makes 
you."  To  this  the  lady  replied  :  "  I  resolved  many 
years  ago  to  do  all  the  Savior  asks  of  me  as  fast 
as  I  can  learn  my  duty."  Upon  a  confession  of 
her  faith  in  Christ  she  was  immersed. 

A   few    weeks   later  the   doctor   was   called    to 


70  BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.  A.   BELDING. 

attend  a  funeral  in  the  same  town.  The  lady  was 
present,  and  at  the  close  of  the  services  she 
approached  the  doctor,  requesting  a  letter  or 
certificate  of  her  baptism,  at  the  same  time  stating 
that  she  was  going  to  spend  the  winter  in  Cin- 
cinnati, and  would  like  to  spend  it  with  the 
"  Church  of  Christ."  The  doctor  said,  smilingly  : 
"You  will  doubtless  find  a  Methodist  church 
there  also."  She  quickly  responded:  "I  have 
learned  too  much  to  be  a  Methodist,  and  prefer 
to  be  simply  and  only  a  Christian."  The  letter 
was,  of  course,  granted. 

The  saying  of  Him  who  spake  as  never  man 
spake,  "Except  a  man  love  me  more  than  all 
else,  he  can  not  be  my  disciple,"  is  sometimes 
put  to  the  test.  A  single  instance  will  illustrate. 
Dr.  Belding  was  called  to  attend  the  funeral  of 
one  whom  he  supposed  to  be  a  stranger.  But, 
upon  entering  the  house  and  looking  upon  the 
face  of  the  sleeper,  he  at  once  recognized  it  as  a 
familiar  one,  and  one  having  a  sad,  but  interest- 
ing, history. 

Many  years  before,  while  Bro.  William  Hay  den 
was  preaching  at  Royalton,  O.,  a  young  lady 
was  most  forcibly  impressed  with'  his  clear  and 
touching  presentation  of  the  simple  "  story  of  the 
cross."  Her  father  was  an  infidel,  while  the 
mother  and  all  the  members  of  her  family  were 
scoffers  at  the  Christian  religion  ;  nevertheless, 
her  interest  increased  and  her  convictions  deep- 
ened.    Her  father  told  her  emphatically  that  if 


BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.  A.   BELDING.  7  I 

she  joined  that  despised  little  company,  she  could 
no  longer  have  a  home  with  him. 

After  calm  and  serious  reflection,  and  most 
earnest  prayer,  she  decided  to  follow  Christ.  She 
was  immersed  by  Bro.  Hayden,  and  wentfrom 
the  stream  to  her  father^'s  home,  only  to  be  denied 
admittance.  She  turned  away,  and  though  for 
eighteen  long  years  she  lived  within  ten  miles  of 
her  childhood -home,  yet  she  spoke  to  but  one 
member  of  her  family,  and  never  was  allowed  to 
enter  the  old  home  during  that  time.  None  of 
her  relatives  were  present  at  her  funeral — to  see 
her  carried  to  her  resting-place.  Her  closing 
hour  was  peaceful,  and  when  her  eyes  were  grow- 
ing dim  with  death's  approach,  she  said  to  those 
around  her  :  "  I  am  going  to  see  the  loving  Savior, 
for  whom  I  have  forsaken  all."  Jesus  verified  to 
her  his  promise  here,  and  will  no  doubt  do  so  as 
fully  in  the  new  Jerusalem.  '■^  He  is  truthful^'''' 
^''  he  is  faithful;''''  "he  gives  homes  and  friends 
an  hundred-fold." 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

In  1849,  during  the  annual  meeting  being  held 
at  Russell,  Geauga  Co.,  O.,  a  few  brethren  were 
called  together  in  the  house  of  Bro  Lattin  Soule 
to  consult  with  reference  to  the  propriety  of  build- 
ing a  school  for  the  education  of  their  children — 
not  only  in  the  sciences,  but  also  in  the  Bible. 
We  will  give  the  doctor's  connection  with  this 
work  in  his  own  language. 

"  I  was  present  at  that  meeting,  and  when  the 
plan  was  agreed  upon  and  the  determination  made 
to  go  ahead  with  the  work,  I  was  selected  as  its 
financial  and  general  agent.  The  raising  of  the 
sum  needed  for  such  an  enterprise  seemed  like  a 
great  undertaking  for  a  people  so  weak  financially 
and  so  few  in  numbers.  But  I  succeeded  in 
raising  the  first  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  con- 
tributed to  lay  the  foundation  of  the  Western 
Reserve  Eclectic  Institute,  which  has  since  grown 
into  the  well-known  and  reputable  educational 
institution  called  Hiram  College. 

"I  am  now  (1897)  the  only  person  living  who 
was  present  at  that  preliminary  meeting.  I  natu- 
rally feel  proud  of  the  work  there  inaugurated 
and  so  prosperously  carried  on.  God's  blessing 
has  attended  it  from  the  first,  and  many  noble 
men  and  women  have  gone  forth  from  its  halls 
who  have  honored  the  institution,  and  aided  to 
fill  the  world  with  the  knowledge  and  spirit  there 
impressed  upon  them.  Among  those  best  known 
to  the  American  people  was  James  A.  Garfield,  a 
(72) 


BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.  A.  BELDING.  75 

graduate  from,  and  afterwards  the  president  of,, 
the  college.  May  it  long  continue  to  prosper, 
and  when  those  who  so  generously  contributed  to 
its  support  shall  be  gathered  to  their  fathers^ 
and  rest  from  their  labors,  may  their  work  still 
continue,  that  future  generations  may  call  them., 
blessed." 

In  this  work,  and  in  his  labor  for  the  mission- 
ary society  of  Ohio,  he  gained  the  reputation  of 
being  a  '•'■successful  beggar,''''  as  he  himself  has 
expressed  it. 

While  engaged  in  these  works,  he  often  found- 
persons  who  expressed  the  wish  to  donate  to  the 
object  for  which  he  was  soliciting,  but  who  plead 
the  excuse  that  they  had  no  money  ;  but  if  they 
could  sell  such  a  piece  of  propert)^ — a  horse,  a 
cow  or  a  piece  of  land — they  would  do  so. 

The  doctor  was  always  ready  for  such  emer- 
gencies, and  would  propose  to  take  the  property 
and  pay  to  the  institute  its  value.  Upon  one 
occasion,  he  visited  a  man  from  whom,  it  was 
said,  nothing  could  be  [obtained.  In  the  midst 
of  harvest,  when  work  was  pressing  hard,  the 
doctor  called  early  in  the  morning  and  found  the 
family  at  breakfast  with  a  number  of  hired  men^ 
Being  invited,  he  took  breakfast  with  them^ 
When,  rising  from  the  table,  the  brother  re- 
marked, "You  must  excuse  me,  for  my  work  is 
pressing,"  he  replied:  "The  Master's  work  is 
always  pressing,  and  I  am  in  a  hurry,  too."  He 
made  known  the  object  of  his  visit,  and  asked 
for  the  modest  sum  of  one  hundred  dollars.     To< 


'74  BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  VV.  A.   BELDING. 

this  request  the  miserly  brother  replied  quickly 
and  rather  excitedly,  "I  am  so  much  in  debt 
that  I  can  not  give  you  one  hundred  cents,"  and 
he  started  for  the  harvest  field.  The  doctor  called 
him  back,  and  kindly  entreated  him  to  give  him 
a  promise  for  the  amount,  but  he  insisted  that  he 
•could  not  afford  it. 

The  doctor  knew  that,  like  many  others,  before 
'he  had  one  farm  paid  for  he  would  buy  another, 
keeping  always  in  debt,  and  thus  always  having 
that  as  an  excuse  for  not  giving.  He  finally  sat 
-down,  and,  in  the  course  of  the  conversation  that 
ensued,  told  the  doctor  what  liabilities  he  had 
-outstanding.  After  much  persuasion,  he  gave  his 
note  for  the  amount  asked  for,  due  one  year  after 
his  last  obligation  was  due.  This  he  did  as  much 
to  get  rid  of  his  visitor  as  from  any  other  motive. 
It  was  collected  from  his  estate,  as  he  died  before 
it  became  due.  The  doctor's  comment  on  the 
above,  as  found  in  his  diary,  is  slightly  humorous. 
It  stands :  "  The  Lord  loveth  the  cheerful  giver." 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

In  1856,  Bro.  Garrett,  of  Pompey,  N.  Y.,  had 
a  little  money,  which  he  desired  to  devote  to  the 
Master's  cause.  Fifty  dollars  of  this  money  he 
handed  to  the  doctor  to  assist  some  young  man 
in  preparing  for  the  ministry.  After  keeping  it 
for  some  time  without  finding  a  place  where  it 
seemed  needed,  he  at  length  gave  to  C.  C.  Foote 
fifteen  dollars,  with  which  to  buy  an  overcoat. 
Soon  after,  the  doctor  wrote  Bro.  Garrett  that  he 
had  thirty-five  dollars  in  his  pocket,  and  asked 
what  disposition  he  desired  made  of  that  amount. 
To  this  Bro.  Garrett  replied:  "Go  and  preach 
it  out." 

The  place  selected  was  Wellington,  a  town  in 
Ohio,  between  Cleveland  and  Columbus.  After 
repeated  efforts  to  obtain  a  house  to  preach  in, 
a  certain  Mr.  Tripp  (a  man  of  the  world)  came 
to  the  doctor  and  said:  "  I  have  a  carriage  shop, 
which  I  will  heat  and  light ;  there  you  can  preach 
as  long  as  you  wish."  The  invitation  was  ac- 
cepted and  the  meeting  began.  The  novelty  of 
the  place  attracted  the  people,  and  from  the  first 
the  attendance  was  good.  Converts  were  made, 
and  soon  a  congregation  was  formed  amid  much 
sectarian  prejudice  and  opposition,  which  became 
so  manifest  that  the  sympathies  of  "outsiders" 
were  aroused,  and  a  subscription  was  started. 
Soon  the  building  of  a  house  of  worship  was 
commenced  and  ultimately  finished,  owing  largely 
to  the  assistance  rendered  by  non-professing 
citizens. 
(75) 


76  BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  VV.   A.  BELDING. 

When  Bro.  Garrett  was  informed  of  what  had 
been  accomplished,  he  said:  "Thank  God!  I 
have  fifty  dollars  more  to  spend  in  the  same  way." 

During  the  same  year  Dr.  Belding  was  preach- 
ing at  Madison,  Lake  Co.,  O.,  when  an  invita- 
tion was  given  him  to  speak  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church  upon  the  subject,  "Christian  Union." 
This  he  consented  to  do  on  the  following  Lord's- 
day  evening.  The  house  was  crowded,  and  the 
congregation  so  much  interested  and  pleased  with 
the  manner  in  which  the  subject  was  presented  that 
one  of  the  officers  in  the  church  arose  and  asked 
the  speaker  if  he  would  not  speak  to  them  again. 
The  doctor  replied  that  he  would  be  pleased  to 
do  so,  providing  he  was  assured  that  his  hands 
should  not  be  tied,  nor  his  tongue  padlocked. 
The  man  who  made  the  request  rose  again  to  his 
feet,  and  responded:  "We  would  like  to  have 
you  preach  here  every  evening  until  we  request 
you  to  stop."  He  called  upon  three  others  of  the 
trustees,  all  of  whom  expressed  themselves  in 
favor  of  continuing  the  meeting.  The  pastor  of 
the  church  objected  in  quite  a  spirited  speech, 
but  the  trustees  prevailed,  and  the  meeting 
went  on. 

A  number  of  persons  declared  that  they  had 
learned  the  way  of  the  Lord  more  perfectly,  and 
were  determined  to  walk  in  it.  They  were  bap- 
tized into  Christ,  ignoring  their  former  "  baptism*^ 
while  unbelieving  infants. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

The  meeting  at  South  Butler,  N.  Y.,  to  which 
reference  has  been  made,  had  in  it  several  items 
of  interest.  A  number  of  invitations  had  been 
given  the  doctor  to  visit  that  congregation,  each 
of  which  he  refused  without  giving  any  reason 
for  the  refusal.  A  committee  was  finally  sent  to 
Auburn.  They  succeeded  in  getting  his  consent 
to  assist  them  in  a  meeting  when  his  labors  were 
ended  in  Auburn. 

The  time  arrived,  and  he  was  on  hand.  The 
first  week  the  time  was  spent  in  trying  to  arouse 
the  spirituality  of  the  church,  which  was  at  a  very 
low  ebb.  On  Saturday  afternoon,  while  one  of 
the  elders  was  speaking,  another  spoke  out  ex- 
citedly: "  If  you  believe  that^  you  don't  believe 
the  Bible." 

When  he  sat  down  the  doctor  arose  and  said  : 
"This  gives  me  a  good  opportunity  to  say  what 
I  have  had  on  my  mind  ever  since  I  came  here. 
The  reason  I  refused  to  come  here  was  that  I 
had  heard  of  you  as  a  congregation  of  intelligent 
Disciples,  fiill  of  discussion  and  possessing  very 
little  spirituality.  And  what  have  you  accom- 
plished? It  is  evident  that  you  have  a  good 
knowledge  of  the  Idler  of  the  laza  of  Christ,  but 
hiave  failed  to  catch  the  spirit  of  its  author,  and 
by  your  oft-repeated  discussions  have  driven  away 
(if  you  ever  had  it)  the  Spirit  of  the  Master. 
You  have  failed  to  observe  the  injunction  of  Paul, 
'  Speak  the  truth  in  love,'  until  you  are  driving 
in) 


/S  BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.  A.   BELDING. 

your  own  children  and  your  neighbors'  children 
out  of  the  church.  Let  us  see!  Bro.  Lowell, 
your  pastor,  has  not  a  member  of  his  family,  save 
himself  and  wife,  in  the  church.  It  has  often 
been  said  to  me :  '  Elder  Lowell  is  a  man  of 
splendid  talent,  but  no  religion.'  Elders  Dratt 
and  Johnson  have  children  who  should  have  be- 
come members  long  ago.  The  members  of  Elder 
Laing's  [another  preacher]  household  are  in  the 
same  condition.  Brethren,  you  are  not  blind  and 
can  see  this.  Bro.  Lowell  has  done  one  part 
of  his  work  well,  in  fulfilling  the  old  saying: 
'  Like  priest,  like  people.'  He  has  filled  them 
with  the  spirit  of  '  dispute.'  " 

Bro.  Lowell  was  sitting  by  and  weeping  like  a 
child.  When  the  opportunity  occurred,  he  arose 
and  said  :  "  I  have  always  supposed  it  was  our 
duty  to  contend  earnestly  for  the  faith  once  de- 
livered to  the  saints,  but  I  see  now  that  the 
manner  in  which  I  have  done  so  has  been  wrong." 
He  was  followed  by  a  number  of  others,  who, 
like  their  pastor,  confessed  that  they  had  been 
wrong  when  they  supposed  they  were  right.  Such 
a  breaking  down  of  spirit  is  not  often  witnessed. 
On  the  last  morning  of  the  meeting,  twenty-two 
were  baptized  —  among  them  Dr.  Sweeting,  a 
Methodist  class  leader.  In  all,  sixty-seven  were 
added  to  the  church,  and  the  vitality  of  the  con- 
gregation was  greatly  improved. 

A  number  of  years  later,  the  doctor  assisted  in 
holding  another  meeting  at  South  Butler,  where 
he  baptized  one  hundred  and  sixty-seven  persons. 


BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.   A.   BELDING.  79- 

During  this  meeting,  he  was  called  upon  to  attend 
the  funeral  of  a  young  Bro.  Hibbard,  who  was  a 
devoted  Christian  and  a  teacher  in  the  Sunday- 
school.  After  the  funeral  services  and  during- 
the  Sunday-school,  the  doctor  was  called  upon  to- 
make  a  few  remarks.  During  a  short  speech,  he 
suggested  that  there  were  at  least  one  hundred 
young  persons  in  that  school  who  ought  to  confess; 
their  Savior.  This  thought  stimulated  the  breth- 
ren and  the  doctor.  The  meeting  was  continued,, 
and,  in  less  than  three  weeks,  the  one  hundred 
spoken  of  were  added  to  the  church.  Among 
those  added  was  a  beautiful  girl  of  thirteen,  the- 
youngest  among  the  new  converts  and  an  only- 
child.  She  »was  of  an  affectionate  disposition. 
At  the  social  meeting,  in  which  a  great  number 
took  part,  she  said  that  for  many  days  she  had. 
desired  to  obey  her  Savior,  but  she  had  wanted 
papa  and  mamma  to  go  with  her.  As  they  would 
not,  she  had  gone  alone.  But,  turning  toward 
her  father  and  mother,  who  were  present,  she 
said:  "How  I  wish  that  they  would  now  accept 
Christ  as  their  Savior,  and  be  as  happy  as  I  am." 
They  both  arose,  and  she  led  them  forward,  amid 
the  common  rejoicing  and  tears.  "And  a  little 
child  shall  lead  them." 

At  the  close  of  the  meeting  in  South  Butler,, 
the  doctor  was  invited  by  a  Congregational  min- 
ister to  go  to  Savannah  (four  miles  distant)  to 
help  hold  a  meeting.  The  doctor  was  inclined 
to   accept   the   invitation,   but   did    not    feel    like 


6o  BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.   A.   BELDING. 

compromising  in  any  way  the  truth  of  our  plea. 
He  insisted  that  he  should  be  allowed  perfect 
freedom  to  speak  the  truth,  as  he  understood  it, 
from  God's  word.  "That,"  said  the  preacher, 
"is  what  I  want  you  to  do."  Accordingly,  the 
meeting  was  commenced  at  once.  The  congre- 
gation grew  in  numbers  and  the  interest  increased, 
until  sinners  began  to  inquire,  "  What  shall  we 
do  to  be  saved?"  The  doctor,  turning  to  the 
preacher,  who  was  sitting  beside  him  in  the  pul- 
pit,  said :    "  Bro.   P ,  what  shall   I   tell  these 

convicted  inquirers?"  Bro.  P ,  himself  ap- 
parently deeply  moved,  said:  "  Bro.  Belding,  did 
I  not  tell  you  to  preach  the  truth?"  "Yes." 
"  Well,  then  do  so."  The  doctor  thereupon  gave 
them  the  same  answer  that  Peter  gave  to  the  peo- 
ple on  Pentecost  (Acts  ii.  38)  :  "Repent,  and  be 
baptized  every  one  of  you  in  the  name  of  Jesus 
•Christ  for  the  remission  of  sins,  and  ye  shall 
receive  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  For  the  prom- 
ise is  unto  you,  and  to  your  children,  and  to  all 
that  are  afar  off,  even  as  many  as  the  Lord  our 
God  shall  call." 

In  response  to  an  invitation  which  followed,  a 
Jiumber  of  the  old  members  of  the  church  re- 
:sponded,  and,  encouraged  by  their  pastor  to  live 
ii-p  to  their  convictions^  they  were  immersed  into 
Christ  Jesus.  At  the  close  of  his  labors,  the  pas- 
tor arose,  and,  in  a  very  feeling  manner,  said : 
-"I  am  sorry  Dr.  Belding  is  to  leave  us,  for  I 
iiave  been  deeply  interested,  encouraged  and  in- 


BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.  A.   BELDING.  8l 

structed."     After  the   meeting   closed,    and   they 
had  retired  to  the  pastor's  study,  the  doctor  said  : 

"  Bro.    P ,   /  am   sorry  that   I    am  going  to 

leave,   for  I   would  like   to  stay  long  enough  to 
baptize  you  and  the  rest  of  your  congregation." 

"That  you  would  do,"  responded  Bro.  P , 

"  if  all  doubts  on  the  subject  were  removed." 
A  few  months  after  this  pleasant  interview,  Mr. 

P was  called  very  suddenly  from  his  labors — 

falling  dead  in  his  pulpit  on  a  Lord's-day  morning. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

Mrs.  Belding  was  an  invalid  almost  from  the 
time  of  her  marriage.  The  first  eighteen  months 
of  their  married  life  she  was  sick,  and,  though 
better  at  times,  was  unable  to  walk  a  step  for 
fourteen  years.  During  nine  years  of  this  time, 
the  doctor  used  a  crutch  or  a  cane  to  assist  his 
own  steps  ;  but  he  finally  recovered  the  use  of  his 
limb,  although  ever  since  compelled  to  wear  an 
elastic  stocking. 

His  beloved  wife,  of  whom  he  took  the  most 
tender  care,  finally  died  of  nervous  fever,  at 
Mentor,  O.,  November  25,  i860.  The  following 
extracts  from  the  doctor's  diary  for  i860  speak 
with  a  pathos  that  shows  the  strong  affection  of 
the  man  for  his  family  : 

Sept.  29. — But  little  sleep  ;  Myra  sick  all  night, 
Oct.  I. — Still  very  sick.     I  was  confined  at  home 

all  day.  , 

Oct.  5. — A  little  better ;  Rufus  at  home. 
Oct.  II.— Myra  no  better  that   I  can  see.     Drs. 

Rosa  and  Stebbins  say  that  she  is  doing  well, 

but  I  do  not  believe  it. 
Oct.    18. — At  home    all    day.     Dr.    Rosa    here ; 

Myra  no  better. 
Nov.  I. — Myra  no  better  ;  sick  five  weeks  to-day. 
Nov.  3. — Myra  failing  ;  Rufus  at  home. 
Nov.    7. — Meeting   of    the   Missionary   Board    at 

Bedford.      Could    not   leave    Myra    to    attend. 

Went  to  bed  the  first  time  in  six  weeks. 
Nov.    8. — Sent     Rufus    to    Painesville    for    Dr. 

Stockton. 
(82) 


BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.    A.   BELDING.  83 

Nov.  12. — Myra  no  better.  Bro.  A.  S.  Hayden 
and  wife  came  to  see  us,  and  spent  the  night. 

Nov.  13. — Myra  had  a  very  sick  day. 

Nov.  15. — Myra  very  sick  and  vomiting.  Sister 
Lucy  Clapp  and  Mrs.  Shoemaker  took  care  of 
her  all  night.  I  have  taken  care  of  her,  until 
this  time,  for  seven  weeks.  Dr.  Stebbins  and 
Dr.  Storm  came  to  see  her  to-day.  They  say 
that  she  must  starve  to  death.  (Terrible  to 
think  of!) 

Nov.  17. — Myra  failing;  suffering  beyond  any- 
thing I  ever  witnessed.  Her  mind  as  clear  as 
a  cloudless  sky.  Happy  in  the  love  of  God 
and  the  bright  hope  of  heaven.  Says:  "Tell 
all  my  friends  that  my  feet  are  on  the  Rock." 

Nov.  18. — Myra  but  just  alive.  Twice  this  morn- 
ing she  requested  me  to  go  and  preach  to  the 
people,  saying:  "Give  them  my  dying  love; 
tell  them  to  examine  well  the  ground  of  their 
hope.  I  am  happy,  for  I  am  almost  home." 
A  very  hard  day  for  me. 

Nov.  19. — Myra  very  low.  A  number  of  calls 
to  see  her. 

Nov.  23. — Myra  very  low.  It  does  not  seem  as 
though  she  could  stay  another  day.  Suffering 
much,  but  calm  and  very  quiet. 

Nov.  24. — Myra  had  a  very  sick  night ;  talked 
much  ;  had  not  a  doubt  as  to  her  future  bliss. 
Bade  us  good-by ;  had  a  sinking  turn,  but 
revived.  Could  not  talk  plainly ;  was  much 
distressed  for  breath. 


84  BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.  A.  BELDING. 

Nov.  25. — At  home  by  the  bedside  of  our  dear 
Myra,  until  she  died  at  10:45  A.M.  Felt  a 
calmness  and  quiet  when  she  breathed  her  last 
that  I  had  not  felt  for  weeks  during  her  suffer- 
ing, which  was  most  severe. 

Nov.  27. — Funeral  at  i  P.M.  Bro.  A.  S.  Hayden 
preached,  by  request,  from  i  Cor.  xv.  and  2 
Cor.  V.  Selected  hymns:  "Rock  of  Ages," 
"Why  Should  We  Mourn?"  "Departed 
Friends,"   and   "Asleep  in   Jesus." 


The  following  obituary  was  written  by  a  life- 
long friend :  * 

"  Died,  on  Lord's-day,  the  25th  of  November, 
i860,  of  nervous  fever,  Mrs.  Myra  E.  Belding, 
consort  of  Dr.  W.  A.  Belding,  of  Mentor,  O.  ; 
aged  47  years,  i  month  and  22  days. 

"  Long  and  gradual  has  been  her  descent  of 
the  hill  of  life.  For  a  period  of  twenty-four  years 
she  has  been  the  subject  of  severe  afflictions,  and 
some  fourteen  years  of  that  time  she  was  so  ex- 
tremely feeble  as  not  to  be  able  to  walk  or  to 
stand  on  her  feet.  Much  of  the  time,  so  extreme 
was  her  frailty  that  cradled  innocence  was  scarcely 
more  helpless.  Yet  no  murmur  escaped  her 
uncomplaining  lips.  Remarkably  patient  and 
hopeful  throughout  her  protracted  debility,  she 
manifested  a  resignation,  and  even  cheerfulness, 
that  commanded  the  admiration  of  all  who  enjoyed 
an  acquaintance  with  her.  No  pain  or  depression 
from  an  illness  so  tedious  and  discouraging  ever 


BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.  A.  BELDING.  85 

disturbed  for  an  hour  the  equanimity  of  her  feel- 
ings— as  balmy  and  genial  as  a  morning  in  May. 
Having  chosen  in  early  life  the  Savior  as  her 
portion  and  her  hope,  she  maintained  a  highly 
consistent  profession  of  the  gospel,  which  shed 
the  radiance  of  its  brightest  hopes  over  her  spirit 
as  she  verged  on  the  confines  of  eternity. 

' '  Along  with  her  calmness  of  spirit  there  was 
associated  a  Christian  benevolence  untiring  in  its 
assiduities  for  the  welfare  of  all  around  her. 
Often,  when  so  feeble  as  to  be  unable  to  lift  her 
head  from  her  pillow,  she  urged  her  husband  to 
fill  his  appointments,  willing  to  suffer  any  priva- 
tion that  the  salvation  of  the  people  might  be 
promoted.  Even  the  last  Lord's-day  of  her  stay 
on  earth  she  said  to  him :  *  Go  to  your  appoint- 
ment to-day  ;  you  may  be  the  means  of  saving 
some  poor  sinner.  Give  the  church  my  dying 
message  of  love.  Exhort  all  to  look  well  to  the 
ground  of  their  hope,  and  tell  them  I  am  happy  ; 
that  my  feet  are  on  the  rock.  The  Lord  will 
sustain  me  till  you  return.' 

"  She   grieved  lest  she  might   ever  have   said 
anything  to  discourage  him  in  the  work  of  carry-  • 
ing  the  gospel  to  the  dying  world. 

"  As  might  be  expected  from  such  a  spirit  and 
such  a  life,  her  last  sickness,  of  two  months'  con- 
tinuance, was  crowded  with  evidences,  which 
grew  brighter  and  more  frequent  to  its  close,  of 
a  most  peaceful  and  even  exultant  departure  to 
the  rest  that  remains  for  the  people  of  God." 

(Signed)  A.  S.  Hayden. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

The  work  of  establishing  a  nucleus  in  Syracuse 
and  erecting  a  church  is  told  in  the  doctor's  own 
language.  The  writer  simply  verified  the  dates 
from  diaries,  covering  the  years  during  which  he 
labored  there. 

"  In  the  fall  of  1862,  while  residing  at  Mentor, 
O.,  I  received  a  letter  from  Sister  Wealthy  Ann 
Allen,  of  Auburn,  N.  Y. ,  asking  me  to  visit  her, 
at  her  expense,  in  the  interest  of  the  Master's 
cause. 

"  I  accepted  the  invitation,  and  arranged  to 
comply  at  once  with  her  request.  The  facts,  as 
related  by  Sister  Allen  and  as  recorded  in  my 
diary,  are  these  : 

"  In  her  girlhood  days,  while  she  was  engaged 
in  teaching  in  the  then  small  city  of  Syracuse, 
she  picked  up  a  leaf  or  two  of  a  monthly  pam- 
phlet, which  she  afterward  learned  was  called  the 
'  Millennial  Harbinger.'  Upon  these  torn  and 
dirty  leaves  she  found  a  sentiment  expressed 
which  arrested  her  attention,  and  in  a  manner 
that  led  her  to  take  it  to  her  pastor  for  an  ex- 
planation, 

*'  After  looking  at  it  for  a  moment,  he  said, 
with  much  earnestness :  '  That  is  rank  Campbell- 
ism,  and  will  ruin  you,  soul  and  body,  for  time 
and  for  eternity.     Have  nothing  to  do  with  it.' 

'  *  She  found  out  by  him  where  and  by  whom  it 
was  published,  and  wrote  for  it  the  same  day.  In 
about  eighteen  months  she  was  asked  to  renounce 
(86) 


BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.  A.  BELDING.  87 

the  sentiment  imbibed,  or  submit  to  an  exclusion 
from  the  fellowship  of  the  church  on  the  charge 
of  heresy.  She  preferred  the  latter,  for  the  rea- 
son that  her  convictions  would  not  permit  her  to 
accept  the  former.  Accordingly,  she  was  ex- 
cluded. She  then  and  there  resolved  that  if 
spared,  and  if  the  Lord  permitted  means  to  come 
into  her  possessi(5n,  the  primitive  gospel  should 
be  preached  in  Syracuse. 

*'  She  further  informed  me  that  an  uncle  of 
hers,  now  deceased,  had  left  her  seven  hundred 
dollars.  Three  hundred  of  this  she  gave  me, 
wishing  me  to  hire  a  hall  and  begin  work  at 
once. 

"  This  I  did,  and  January  21,  1863,  I  preached 
my  first  discourse  in  the  City  Hall.     After  thor- 
oughly    advertising,    we    succeeded    in    getting 
together  fourteen  hearers,  but  I   find  recorded  in 
my  diary,  in  addition  to  the  above,  the  following : 
Jan.  24. — The  beginning  is  small,  but  the  Lord's 
blessing  upon  our  labors  will  cause  it  to  be  suc- 
cessful.    We  hope  to   continue  until  the  truth 
shall  win   its    way,    and   the   Church    of  Christ 
be  firmly  established  here. 
Jan.    24. — Preached  three  times  in  the  City  Hall 
to-day.     Interest  increasing,  and  the  opposition 
also.     Twice  the  number  that  were  present  one 
week  ago. 
Jan.  30. — Great  reason  for  encouragement  in  at- 
tendance and  interest. 

"  A  number  of  persons  wishing  to  be  immersed, 
I  asked  for  the  use  of  a  baptistery  belonging  to  a 


88  BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.  A.   BELDING. 

certain  religious  body  in  the  city.  They  called 
together  the  Board  of  Trustees,  and,  after  a  full 
and  free  discussion  of  the  subject,  passed  the  fol- 
lowing resolutions,  to-wit : 

"  'Whereas,  Dr.  Belding  has  asked  for  the  use 
of  our  baptistery,  in  which  to  baptize  some  con- 
verts, we  feel  compelled  to  refuse  him  for  this 
reason :  the  nearer  a  counterfeit  is  to  the  genuine, 
the  more  dangerous.' 

"  A  Dr.  Ray  came  to  me  at  once,  and  asked 
if  I  had  been  refused  the  use  of  the  baptistery.  I 
replied  in  the  affirmative.  He  then  said  :  '  I  have 
a  large  number  of  dressing-rooms  attached  to  my 
bathing-park,  and,  although  I  belong  to  the  big 
church,  I  like  fair  play.  You  are  welcome  to 
the  use  of  as  many  of  those  rooms  as  you  wish, 
and  as  often  as  you  wish.  They  will  be  warmed 
for  you  free  of  charge.'  We  accepted  his  kind 
and  generous  invitation,  and  used  it  many  times 
until  we  had  a  baptistery  of  our  own. 

"The  papers  several  times  refused  to  publish 
notices  of  our  meetings.  At  length  I  was  so 
much  annoyed  by  them  that  I  wrote  a  request 
for  one  of  the  editors,  as  follows:  '  The  prayers 
of  this  union  meeting  are  most  earnestly  requested 
for  the  editor  of  one  of  our  daily  papers — that 
his  heart  may  be  opened,  so  that  he  will  consent 
to  publish  the  religious  notices  of  a  feeble  church, 
which  is  trying  to  honor  God  and  bless  the  world.' 

*' With  this  notice  in  my  pocket,  I  started  for 
the  meeting,  with  a  firm  resolution  to  present  it. 


BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.   A.   BELDING.  89 

But,  meeting  one  of  the  local  editors,  I  read  him 
the  request,  and  told  him  my  determination.  He 
begged  of  me  not  to  do  it,  and  said  that  anything 
I  wished  published,  if  I  would  bring  it  to  him, 
should  be  done.  From  that  time  we  had  no  fur- 
ther trouble. 

Feb.  8. — I  preached  in  the  morning,  and,  after 
baptizing  nine  persons  upon  a  profession  of 
their  faith  in  Christ,  we  took  the  preliminary 
steps  toward  an  organization.  Thirty-five  per- 
sons who  had  given  themselves  to  the  Lord  now 
pledged  themselves  one  to  another  to  accept 
the  teachings  of  Christ  and  the  apostles  as  their 
guide  of  life,  discarding  all  humanly  formulated 
creeds  and  man-given  titles.  Sister  Allen,  from 
Auburn,  being  present  with  us,  spoke  many 
pleasant  and  encouraging  words,  and  closed  by 
saying,  in  a  very  feeling  manner :  '  It  is  the 
happiest  day  of  my  life.  Now,  Lord,  let  thou 
thy  servant  depart  in  peace,  for  I  have  seen  thy 
salvation.' 

"  She  then  pledged  two  hundred  dollars  towards 
the  erection  of  the  building  in  which  we  are  gath- 
ered this  evening,  and  which  was  the  first  sub- 
scription made. 

Feb.  15. — Preached  twice.  Received  nine  into 
the  fellowship  of  the  church  and  baptized  two. 
Hall  well  filled,  with  a  good  representation 
from  the  religious  community  and  the  world. 
May  10. — Baptized  three.  The  interest  not  abated 
in  the  least. 


90  BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.  A.  BELDING. 

Nov.  22. — We  meet  to-day  for  the  first  time  in 
the  Courthouse,  and  are  much  pleased  with  the 
change  from  the  City  Hall.  Things  are  looking 
hopeful,  and  yet  the  papers  refuse  us  a  fair 
representation,  even  w^hen  paid  for  publishing 
notices  of  our  meetings  and  work. 

"  From  this  time  until  June  17,  we  continued 
to  meet  in  the  Courthouse,  with  a  fair  attendance 
and, frequent  additions.  On  June  19,  1864,  the 
new  church  building  was  formally  opened,  Bro. 
D.  S.  Burnett  preaching  a  very  appropriate  dedi- 
catory discourse  In  the  evening  services  were 
held,  and  three  persons  confessed  their  faith  in 
Christ. 

June  19. — Met  on  this  the  first  Lord's-day  in  the 
new  church  building.  Bro.  Burnett  preached, 
and  I  baptized  eight  persons,  making  eighteen 
since  the  opening  of  the  house. 

June  25. — Meeting  again  this  evening  ;  three  bap- 
tisms and  four  other  confessions. 

June  26. — Closed  the  meeting  this  evening,  with 
thirty-one  added  to  the  church. 

July  3. — Several  added  to  the  church  to-day. 
Organized  a  Sunday-school  and  Bible  class, 
with  about  thirty  in  each^ 

Aug.  28,  1864. — This  closes  my  engagement  in 
this  church,  which  was  organized  with  thirty- 
five  members,  and  now  numbers  one  hundred 
and  three.  A  house  has  been  built  costing 
fifteen  thousand  dollars,  of  which  twelve  thou- 
sand are  paid. 


BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.  A.   BELDING.  9 1 

'*I  continued  my  work  with  the  congregation 
until  some  time  in  1865,  when  I  resigned  my 
position,  and  was  followed  by  Bro.  A.  N.  Gilbert, 
the  membership  having  increased  to  one  hundred 
and  twenty-eight.  My  labors  closed  with  the 
consciousness  that  I  never  had  a  more  earnest 
and  faithful  company  of  helpers  than  I  left  in 
Syracuse.  I  parted  from  them  with  strong  at- 
tachments. 

"The  resolutions  passed  and  the  presents  re- 
ceived have  been  kept,  and  the  memory  of  them 
cherished  most  tenderly,  even  to  this  day.  They 
will  be  a  source  of  comfort  to  myself  and  family 
while  memory  retains  its  sway.  I  might  speak 
with  tender  feeling  and  deepest  emotion  of  indi- 
vidual co-laborers,  some  of  whom  still  linger, 
while  others  are  on  the  other  shore,  awaiting 
the  reunion  of  the  family  in  the  mansions  prepared 
by  the  Elder  Brother,  where  there  will  be  no 
parting.  In  conclusion,  let  me  say  that  if  the 
present  membership,  with  its  experience  and  added 
facilities  for  carrying  on  the  work  of  the  Lord 
in  the  years  to  come,  be  as  faithful  as  the  older 
members  were  during  the  same  number  of  years 
now  past,  the  city  of  Syracuse  will  not  long  be 
left  with  a  single  organization,  but  with  a  number 
of  them.  When  the  reunion  of  all  who  have  par- 
ticipated in  this  grand  work  shall  take  place,  may 
I  be  among  the  happy  throng." 

W.  A.  Belding. 

Troy,  N.  Y.,  May  28,  1891. 


92  BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.  A.   BELDING. 


COPY    OF    TESTIMONIALS    PRESENTED    TO   THE    DOCTOR 

BY  THE  Church  at  Syracuse,  n.  Y.,  at  the 
CLOSE  OF  His  Labors 'There. 

To  Bro.  W.  A.  Belding: — In  behalf  of  the 
church  of  Syracuse,  I  wish  to  say  that  we  desire 
on  this  occasion  to  acknowledge  our  [indebtedness 
to  you  for  the  great  work  that  has  been  achieved 
here,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  through  your  in- 
strumentality. 

Words  fail  to  express  the  emotion  of  our  hearts 
and  the  gratitude  we  feel  for  the  untiring  devotion 
with  which  you  have  labored  among  us.  We  owe 
our  existence  as  a  church  to  your  labors.  Many 
of  us,  had  it  not  been  for  the  word  of  life  which 
you  have  preached  so  faithfully,  would  have  been 
at  this  time  without  hope  and  without  God  in  the 
world.  Thanks  to  his  holy  name,  in  his  provi- 
dence he  saw  fit  to  send  you  here  to  preach  the 
unsearchable  riches  of  Christ.  We  would  further 
say  that,  like  the  apostle  to  the  Gentiles,  you 
* '  have  not  shunned  to  declare  all  the  counsel 
of  God." 

While  we  acknowledge  our  indebtedness  to  you, 
we  feel  that  it  is  not  in  our  power  to  recompense 
you  ;  but  you  shall  be  recompensed  at  the  resur- 
rection of  the  just.  Although  we  have  the  promise 
of  a  hundred-fold  in  this  life,  yet  we  are  told  that 
we  have  but  a  foretaste —  * '  an  earnest  of  the  in- 
heritance prepared  for  the  saints  in  light." 

The  relations  you  have  sustained  to  us,  and  the 


BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.   A.   BELDING.  93 

faithfulness  with  which  you  have  discharged  the 
obligations  which  that  relationship  imposed,  have 
made  an  impression  on  our  hearts  which  time  will 
hardly  eradicate.* 

We  have  no  desire  to  forget  you,  neither  would 
we  be  forgotten  by  you.  Therefore  we  have 
thought  best  to  present  you  these  vessels  [a  silver 
pitcher  and  goblets]  as  a  token  of  remembrance 
and  a  slight  appreciation  of  what  you  have  done 
for  us.  J-  C.  HuTCHiNGS,  Committee. 

August  30,  1864. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

The  next  work  which  occupied  the  doctor's 
attention  for  any  great  length  of  time  was  the 
building  of  a  church  at  Troy,  N'.  Y.  But  several 
important  events  must  be  sketched  before  we  fol- 
low him  to  Troy. 

In  1862,  his  son,  Rufus  E.,  was  married  to 
Martha  A.  Seymour,  of  Meridian,  Cayuga  Co., 
N.  Y.  Two  days  later  (January  8)  the  doctor 
was  himself  again  married ;  this  time  to  Miss 
Emily  Sherman,  who  lived  at  Pittstown,  about 
twelve  miles  northeast  of  Troy.  She  was  one  of 
a  family  of  eight,  having  four  sisters  and  two 
brothers.  The  sisters — Sarah,  Asenath,  Amanda 
and  Mary — have  all  been  helpful  to  the  work  in 
Eastern  New  York,  contributing  most  liberally  to 
all  necessary  funds. 

Mrs.  Belding,  owing  to  the  doctor's  migrating 
life,  has  mostly  always  made  her  home  at  Pitts- 
town.  Together  they  managed  the  large  and  fine 
farm  known  as  the  "  Sherman  girls  '  "  farm — 
known  far  and  wide  as  the  seat  of  the  most  gen- 
erous hospitality  and  of  an  overflowing  abundance, 
which  it  was  the  delight  of  the  sisters  to  share 
with  their  numerous  guests.  It  was  the  Mecca 
of  the  writer's  boyhood  days.  I  looked  forward 
to  spending  a  portion  of  each  vacation  there  with 
keen  anticipation  of  the  welcome  always  given, 
and  of  the  lavish  table  that  appealed  so  strongly 
to  my  appetite.  Mrs.  Belding's  last  sister,  Mary, 
died  March  12,  1897.  The  farm  spoken  of  is 
(94) 


BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.   A.   BELDING.  95 

now  managed  by  Mrs.  Belding  and  her  son, 
Sherman  W. 

Such  was  the  family  into  which  the  doctor 
married,  and  a  most  happy  marriage  it  proved, 
though  differing  from  the  home  life  enjoyed  by 
others.  During  the  time  that  intervened  between 
his  work  at  Syracuse  and  that  at  Troy,  he  made 
a  flying  trip  to  Chicago  to  hold  a  meeting.  There 
was  quite  a  little  organization  at  Chicago,  which 
met  in  the  Opera-house  on  Clark  Street. 

The  doctor  preached  on  Sunday  morning  and 
evening  in  the  Opera-house,  and  on  the  week  days 
at  the  homes  of  some  of  the  brethren. 

One  evening  he  asked  the  members  present 
why  they  did  not  own  a  house  in  which  to  wor- 
ship. The  reply  was  :  "  We  are  not  able."  The 
doctor  answered:  "  If  I  were  to  say  that  of  you, 
you  would  resent  it.  If  you  will  take  hold,  I'll 
see  what  we  can  do  towards  raising  a  fund  for 
building."  Several  agreed  to  do  what  the}^  could, 
though  doubtful  of  the  result. 

The  next  morning  he  went  into  the  office  of 
Dr.  Major,  then  a  wealthy  physician,  whose  office 
was  in  the  Opera-house.  Seating  himself  at  a 
desk.  Dr.  Belding  drew  up  a  subscription  for  a 
church  edifice,  and,  handing  it  to  Dr.  Major, 
said:  "Is  that  all  right?"  After  reading  it,  he 
replied  :"  Yes."  "  Then  sign  it."  A  moment's 
deliberation,  and  Dr.  Major's  signature  for  one 
thousand  dollars  headed  the  list.  As  the  doctor 
-did  not  pick  up   the   book,    or   look    as    though 


96  BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.   A.  BELDING. 

he  were  pleased,  Bro.  Major  inquired:  "What 
is  the  matter?     What  did  you  expect?  " 

The  doctor  responded:  "  If  we  arfe  men,  let's 
be  men — not  boys.  You  ought  to  give  five  thou- 
sand dollars  at  least,  and  as  much  more  as  you 
can  afford."  After  a  few  moments'  conversation, 
the  sum  subscribed  was  changed  to  five  thousand. 

Next  the  doctor  took  the  book  to  the  office  of 
Bro.  Honore  (the  father  of  Mrs.  Potter  Palmer) . 
He  looked  at  the  subscription  of  Dr.  Major,  and 
simply  ejaculating  "My  gracious!"  put  down 
his  own  name  for  a  similar  amount. 

Within  ten  days  the  list  footed  seventeen  thou- 
sand dollars,  and  the  house  of  the  Lutherans  on 
Randolph  Street  was  purchased.  For  this  four- 
teen thousand  dollars  was  paid,  while  one  thou- 
sand was  expended  in  remodeling  it. 

The  congregation  then  offered  the  doctor  a 
salary  of  twenty-five  hundred  dollars  to  preach  for 
them  one  year.  But  he  replied  :  "I  have  prom- 
ised the  Lord  that,  if  spared,  I  would  do  a  certain 
work  in  Troy  ;  I  must  be  about  it." 

He  went  to  Troy  soon  after,  and  labored  to 
organize  the  church  at  that  place.  He  succeeded 
in  building  them  an  edifice  costing  twenty-one 
thousand  dollars,  for  which  labor  he  received  his 
compensation  of  five  hundred  dollars  per  annum 
from  the  Missionary  Society  of  New  York  State. 

Troy  is  the  county-seat  of  Rensselaer  County, 
N.  Y.,  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Hudson  River^ 
and,  on  account  of  its  location  between  the  hills, 
which  rise  somewhat  abruptly  on  that  side  of  the 


BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.    A.   BELDING.  97 

river,  its  greatest  length  is  from  north  to  south, 
parallel  to  the  river.  It  was  a  manufacturing  city 
of  considerable  importance,  promising  at  one  time 
to  become  the  center  of  the  iron  industries  of  this 
country.  But  the  invention  of  a  process  that 
utilized  the  magnetic  ores  changed  this  prospect 
and  ruined  the  iron  manufactories  already  built. 
The  business  ot  stove  manufacturing  in  Troy  was 
at  one  time  the  largest  in  the  world,  but  strikes 
and  labor  unions  caused  those  interested  to  move 
to  other  places,  and  Cleveland,  Detroit  and  vari- 
ous small  Western  towns  profited  by  Troy's  loss. 
Shirt  and  collar  making  has  increased,  however, 
and  Troy  leads  all  places  in  these  lines.  There 
is  no  other  place  in  New  York  State  where  girls 
and  women  have  the  opportunities  for  self-support 
afforded  by  this  city. 

The  surrounding  country  is  hilly,  and  contains 
some  of  the  best  farming  land  of  the  State. 

We  have  already  spoken  of  Pittstown,  the  home 
of  Mrs.  Belding.  Three  miles  from  this  home 
is  the  village  of  Pittstown  Corners,  a  mere 
"cross-roads,"  with  blacksmith's  shop,  one  or 
two  stores,  and  possibly  one  hundred  inhabitants. 
But  that  little  village  had  a  Disciple  church  long 
before  Troy  did,  and  at  one  time  had  the  strong- 
est organization  in  the  State. 

In  the  year  1865,  Bro.  William  B.  Mooklar,  of 
Covington,  Ky.,  sent  to  the  doctor  two  young 
men  and  the  sum  of  seven  hundred  dollars,  with 
the  message  :  "  Use  this  and  these  for  the  good 
of  the  cause."     The  doctor  had  become  interested 


98  BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.  A.  BELDING. 

in  the  work  of  the  little  band  at  Troy,  N.  Y., 
and,  dividing  this  money,  he  sent  one  of  the 
young  preachers  to  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  and  the  other, 
Bro.  J.  Z.  Taylor,  to  Troy. 

As  the  doctor  was  connected  with  the  Troy 
Church  for  the  ensuing  ten  years,  we  will  sketch 
briefly  its  record  up  to  the  time  that  his  own 
efforts  commence. 

As  far  back  as  1844,  an  organization  existed 
in  Troy  under  charge  of  four  elders,  who  alter- 
nated in  preaching  the  Word.  The  names  of  but 
two  of  these  leaders  are  now  known — Elder  Ager 
and  Elder  Read.  The  congregation  met  in  the 
upper  story  of  a  frame  building  at  the  corner  of 
River  and  King  Streets,  where  is  now  located 
one  of  Troy's  most  prominent  banks. 

The  little  band  lost  in  number,  and  was  twice 
reorganized — the  second  time  having  but  three  or 
four  of  the  original  members  among  those  com- 
prising the  new  organization.  Soon  after  this 
reorganization.  Dr.  Belding  became  interested  in 
the  work,  and  sent  Bro.  J.  Z.  Taylor  to  hold  a 
meeting  for  them.  This  meeting  was  held  in  the 
Young  Men's  Association  Hall  on  First  Street, 
over  the  old  post-office.  This  hall  would  seat 
twelve  hundred  people,  and  was  consequently 
much  too  large  for  the  little  band  and  the  few 
friends  they  could  gather  together.  In  spite  of 
this,  a  good  meeting  was  held.  But,  for  some 
reason,  Bro.  Taylor  could  not  stay,  and  Dr.  Beld- 
ing sent  D.  R.  Van  Buskirk  to  continue  the  work. 

Bro.  Van   Buskirk   commenced  in    August    or 


BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.  A.  BELDING.  99 

September,  1865,  and  remained  two  months. 
During  his  stay,  Dr.  Belding  made  one  of  his 
unexpected  trips,  and,  arriving  in  Troy  in  the 
afternoon  a  short  time  before  the  time  for  meet- 
ing, he  went  to  the  building.  Before  he  had 
time  to  make  himself  known,  he  was  accosted  by 
a  little  daughter  of  Captain  Rhodes,  who  said: 
*'  We  are  having  some  very  interesting  meetings 
upstairs  ;  wouldn't  you  like  to  go  up?  "  "I  don't 
know  but  I  will,"  responded  the  doctor.  He 
gravely  went  up  with  her,  to  be  warmly  welcomed 
as  an  old  and  needed  friend.  The  doctor  spoke 
of  this  incident,  and  promised  the  brethren  that 
if  they  would  have  the  cause  as  closely  at  heart 
as  that  young  girl,  they  would  soon  have  a  church 
building  to  meet  in. 

At  this  time — besides  the  church  at  Pittstown 
Corners,  already  spoken  of — there  were  congre- 
gations at  Eagle  Mills  and  Poestenkill,  both  small 
towns,  four  to  eight  miles  east  of  Troy. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

The  Troy  membership  numbered  eighteen,  and 
at  the  close  of  D.  R.  Van  Buskirk's  efforts,  in 
November,  the  doctor  began  to  look  for  some 
smaller  place  in  which  to  worship.  Finally,  about 
May,  1866,  he  secured  Agricultural  Hall,  at  the 
corner  of  Ferry  and  First  Streets,  where  they 
worshiped  for  some  time. 

June  2,  a  legal  notice  having  been  given,  the 
members  of  the  church  of  Christ  met  at  their 
place  of  worship.  The  pastor.  Dr.  W.  A.  Beld- 
ing,  presiding,  Cornelius  V^an  Schaick  and  John 
C.  Welch  were  selected  as  judges  of  election,  and 
three  trustees  were  elected:  Joseph  H.  Rhodes, 
for  the  term  of  three  years  ;  Jeremiah  Washburn 
for  two  years,  and  James  B.  Thomas  for  one  year. 

A  document  was  drawn  up  in  proper  form,  for 
record  in  the  county  of  Rensselaer,  containing  the 
names  of  trustees  and  adopting  the  name,  Church 
of  Christ  of  Troy,  N.  Y.,  "which  name  it  is  to 
be  forever  called."  Thus  was  the  foundation 
laid,  legally  and  in  good  order.  A  nucleus  of 
eighteen  members  was  formed  to  accomplish  what 
the  citizens  of  Troy  universally  said  could  not 
be  done  ;  /.  e.,  the  building  of  another  church. 

The  newspapers  resented  the  sending  of  a  mis- 
sionary to  Troy.  They  for  some  time  kept  up  a 
fusillade  of  sarcasm  that  was  more  annoying  than 
harmful.  The  doctor  finally  wrote  and  had  pub- 
lished an  article  in  which  he  stated  that  Troy  cer- 
(loo) 


BIOGRAPHY  OF  DR.  W.  A.  BELDING.     lOI 

tainly  needed  missionaries,  for  some  of  the  inhab- 
itants acted  like  heathens. 

The  doctor  promptly  opened  a  subscription- 
book  for  purchasing  a  lot  on  which  to  build  a 
house  of  worship.  The  sum  of  five  thousand, 
three  hundred  and  twenty-one  dollars  was  sub- 
scribed within  a  short  time,  and  the  selection  of  a 
lot  located  suitably  for  church  purposes  occupied 
his  attention.  Troy  had  been  through  a  terrible 
fire  only  a  short  time  before  (1862),  and  there 
were  then  many  vacant  lots  formerly  occupied  by 
buildings.  The  southwest  corner  of  Seventh  and 
Fulton  Streets  was  selected  and  purchased. 

The  old  subscription-book  lies  before  us  as  we 
write,  and  is  headed  with  the  names  of  W.  A. 
Belding,  Mrs.  W.  A.  Belding  and  Asenath  and 
Sarah  Sherman. 

In  the  records  of  the  man}-  different  enterprises 
in  which  the  doctor  was  engaged  we  find  him  not 
content  to  devote  time  and  energy  to  the  work, 
but  he  was  liberal  with  his  money.  Almost  in- 
variably his  name  would  head  the  list  and  the 
names  of  his  family  or  of  his  wife's  sisters  would 
appear  next. 

Subscriptions  were  now  taken  for  the  erection 
of  a  building,  and  were  due  and  payable  when  the 
walls  were  up  ready  for  the  roof. 

The  first  subscription  for  the  purchase  of  a  lot 
was  made  June  9,  1866,  and  the  date  of  the  first 
meeting  in  the  church  was  1868.  This  took  place 
in  the  basement,  the  upper  story  not  being  com- 
pleted.    But  soon  after  the   edifice  was  declared 


I02  BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.  A.  BELDING. 

complete,  and  it  was  announced  that  a  total  of 
twenty-one  thousand  dollars  had  been  spent  and 
that  a  debt  of  three  thousand  dollars  remained. 
This  may  seem  a  high  price  for  the  Troy  prop- 
erty, but  this  was  soon  after  the  war,  and  materials 
and  labor  were  very  expensive. 

In  1883  this  building  was  sold  to  the  Lutherans 
for  twelve  thousand  five  hundred  dollars,  and  the 
congregation  built  the  one  now  occupied  at  the 
corner  of  River  and  Jay  Streets. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  during  these  years 
the  doctor  had  been  constantly  in  Troy.  Scarcely 
a  week  went  by  without  a  drive  to  Pittstown.  He 
owned  a  horse  and  carriage  which  he  kept  for 
that  trip  alone.  Meetings  were  held  at  Amster- 
dam and  elsewhere,  and  his  financial  work  for 
the  missionary  societies  was  kept  up. 

In  1870,  at  his  solicitation,  his  son  Rufus,  with 
his  wife  and  family  (composed  of  two  sons,  War- 
ren S.  and  Paul  W.),  moved  from  Syracuse  to 
Troy.  The  doctor,  soon  after,  purchased  a  home, 
in  which  they  still  reside  (1897).  The  doctor 
had  now  two  homes,  and  alternated  between  them 
according  to  the  promptings  of  his  restless  nature. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

The  church  of  Christ  in  Brooklyn  is  the  out- 
growth of  a  movement  made  by  a  number  of 
honest,  conscientious,  Bible-loving  Baptists,  to 
escape  from  the  bonds  of  sectarianism,  under  the 
lead  of  their  pastor,  Mr.  J.  Bradford  Cleaver, 
whom  the  Sixth  Avenue  Baptist  Church  had  tried 
and  found  guilty  of  the  heinous  crime  of  having 
declared  that  he  would  baptize  a  young  lady  upon 
a  confession  of  her  faith  in  Christ,  without  sub- 
mitting  her  rights  in  the  premises  to  any  church. 

A  considerable  number  left  that  organization 
with  him  and  they  established  a  "Gospel  Church," 
upon  a  declaration  of  their  belief  in  the  sufficiency 
of  the  Bible  alone  as  a  rule  of  faith. 

Mr.  Cleaver  had  not  received  a  theological  edu- 
cation, consequently  he  had  little  to  unlearn. 
But,  having  been  trained  for  the  bar,  and  being 
successful  in  the  practice  of  law,  he  had  acquired 
the  habits  of  analysis.  Looking  upon  the  Bible 
as  a  book  of  statutes,  instead  of  a  repository  of 
texts  to  sustain  preconceived  theories,  before  he 
was  aware  of  the  fact  he  found  himself  in  the 
ranks  of  the  Disciples  of  Christ,  manfully  battling 
for  the  faith  delivered  to  the  saints.  When  ap- 
prised of  his  position  and  the  logical  result,  he  did 
not  draw  back,  but  continued  to  search  the  Scrip- 
tures. Having  learned  to  "rightly  divide  the 
word,"  he  became  more  and  more  impressed 
with  the  beauty  and  simplicity  of  the  plan  of 
human  redemption,  as  revealed  in  the  King's 
(103) 


I04  BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.  A.   BELDING. 

Statute-book,  and  brought  to  light  by  those  whom 
the  world  calls  "Campbellites." 

Some  of  those  who  followed  him  into  the 
"Gospel  Church,"  not  having  moral  courage  suffi- 
cient to  sustain  them  under  such  insolent  epi- 
thets, drew  back  and    returned    to   sectarianism. 

In  August,  1875,  while  spending  his  vacation 
in  Troy,  Mr.  Cleaver  was  invited  to  speak  for 
the  church  there.  This  he  did  with  such  satisfac- 
tion to  the  members  assembled  that  he  was  in- 
duced to  remain  there  until  February,  1877.  Dur- 
ing his  ministry  in  Troy  some  one  hundred  and 
twenty-nine  were  added  to  their  number. 

After  Mr.  Cleaver  left  Brooklyn,  meetings  were 
continued  in  the  chapel  on  Lincoln  Place  until 
about  the  middle  of  November,  1875,  at  which 
time,  by  a  vote  of  its  members,  the  "Gospel 
Church"  was  disbanded  and  in  its  stead  they 
organized  a  church  of  Christ. 

They  chose  Dr.  Beldisg  as  pastor  and  he  labored 
there  until  October  i,  1876.  His  efforts  to  raise 
money  to  build  or  buy  a  church  were,  as  usual, 
successful.  In  this  work  he  was  warmly  seconded 
by  Brethren  G.  B.  Farrington,  C.  C.  Martin  and 
others.  The  result  was  that  they  bought  a  house 
of  the  Methodists.  This  was  on  Sterling  Place, 
well  located  and  beautifully  constructed,  having 
originally  cost  fifty-seven  thousand  dollars.  For 
this  house  they  paid  twelve  thousand  dollars  and 
assumed  a  mortgage  of  six  thousand. 

In  1876  the  doctor  resigned  his  pastorate  for 
the  reason  that  he  had  resolved,  early  in   his  min- 


BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.  A.  BELDING.  IO5 

isterial  life,  that  he  would  never  have  it  said  of 
him  :  *'  He  is  too  old  to  preach." 

The  age  he  fixed  upon  as  that  in  v^'^hich  to  close 
his  settled  pastoral  work  was  sixty  years.  That 
time  had  now  arrived,  and  since  that  day  he  has 
had  no  time  engagements  with  any  church.  He 
has  remained  for  months  preaching  for  one 
church,  but  the  engagement  has  been  considered 
as  from  week  to  week.  The  church  prospered 
steadily,  though  under  the  care  of  several  pas- 
tors who  remained  but  a  short  time  each.  At 
the  conclusion  of  the  engagement  of  Bro.  J. 
Z.  Tyler,  who  had  been  located  with  them  for 
two  years,  a  call  was  given  to  Bro.  C.  B.  Edgar, 
of  Kentucky.  He  was  delayed  by  sickness,  and 
the  doctor  was  asked  to  preach  during  this  inter- 
val. He  responded,  and  for  six  months  preached 
regularly,  receiving  for  compensation  forty  dol- 
lars a  week. 

Nothing  was  ever  said  by  him  or  to  him  regard- 
ing salary  while  in  Brooklyn  ;  but  during  his  first 
stay  the  clerk  had  handed  him  fifteen  dollars 
every  Sundaj'-  evening,  this  being  doubtless  all 
they  could  then  aflford. 

The  change  from  a  little  band  of  about  thirty, 
with  no  home,  to  a  fine  building  and  increased 
membership,  was  very  encouraging.  From  that 
time  the  organization  has  continually   prospered. 

Greenpoint  Mission  occupied  the  time  and  en- 
ergies of  the  doctor  for  one  year.  It  was  an  out- 
lying point  of  Brooklyn,  between  four  and  five 
miles  from  the  Sterling  Place  church.  The  neigh- 


I06    BIOGRAPHY  OF  DR.  W.  A.  BELDING. 

borhood  was  full  of  churches  knd  was  sparsely 
settled,  while  the  people  were  poor.  The  mis- 
sion was  started  by  the  Sterling  Place  congrega- 
tion and  assisted  somewhat  by  the  New  York 
Missionary  Society.  They  numbered  about  twenty 
and  met  in  a  store-room,  having  no  organization 
whatever.  But,  when  left  by  the  doctor,  they 
numbered  nearly  one  hundred,  met  in  a  house  of 
their  own  that  had  cost  fifteen  hundred  dollars, 
and  were  thoroughly  organized. 

This  work  was  very  trying  to  the  doctor. 
While  at  Greenpoint  he  lost  flesh  and  was  half 
sick  most  of  the  time.  He  describes  it  as  a  great 
deal  of  work  with  very  little  results.  Many 
pledges  were  found  uncollectable,  and  there  was 
little  effort  made  to  pay  him  anything  for  his 
time  and  labor  ;  but  with  dogged  perseverance  he 
put  them  on  their  feet  and  left  them  prosperous 
and  out  of  debt. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

In  the  winter  of  1877,  Dr.  Belding  received  a 
joint  letter  written  by  Ovid  Butler  and  O.  A. 
Burgess  and  asking  him  to  come  over  to  Indian- 
apolis. He  went  and  found  present  the  sub- 
scribers to  a  fund  (then  small)  to  establish  an  in- 
stitute in  the  South  for  the  education  of  the  col- 
ored race. 

Officers  were  elected  and  the  doctor  was  re- 
quested to  assume  the  responsibility  of  raising  the 
necessary  funds.  He  replied:  "I  am  under 
obligations  to  the  Missionary  Society,  but  will 
divide  my  time  between  their  work  and  yours,  if 
you  wish."  It  was  so  agreed,  and  he  com- 
menced a  work  that  has  always  had  for  him  a 
great  attraction.  It  resulted  in  the  establishing  of 
a  school  which  has  given  instruction  to  over  six 
thousand  colored  pupils  of  both  sexes,  who  would 
probably  have  gone  through  life  in  complete  men- 
tal and  moral  ignorance,  had  it  not  been  for  this 
work . 

A  school  was  started  in  two  dilapidated  school 
buildings  iii  Jackson,  Miss.  These  structures 
were  owned  by  the  Quakers,  who  gave  free  use 
of  them.  Bro.  R.  Faurot  and  wife  taught  there 
while  a  permanent  place  was  being  decided  upon. 

April  27,  1882,  the  doctor  called  on  Mr.  T.  I. 
Martin,  of  Louisville,  Ky.  This  gentleman  owned 
a  plantation  of  eight  hundred  acres  at  Edwards, 
Hinds  Co.,  Miss.  This  plantation  he  held  for 
sale  at  fifteen  thousand  dollars.  But,  after  talk- 
(107) 


I08  BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.  A.  BELDING. 

ing  with  the  doctor  and  learning  the  use  for 
which  he  desired  it,  he  said  that  he  would  do- 
nate one-half  of  the  amount,  making  the  cost 
to  the  society  seven  thousand  dollars.  A  bar- 
gain was  concluded  on  that  basis,  the  doc- 
tor entering  into  a  contract  making  him  per- 
sonally responsible  for  the  payment  of  that  sum. 
July  5,  the  deed  was  given  and  (including  what 
had  been  paid  at  the  drawing  up  of  the  contract) 
the  sum  of  four  thousand  dollars  was  paid,  and 
a  trust  deed  to  secure  the  remaining  three  thou- 
sand dollars,  due  in  one,  two  and  three  years,  was 
given. 

The  doctor  says  of  Mr.  Martin:  *'He  was  my 
ideal  of  a  business  man — liberal,  unsuspicious,  but 
business-like." 

This  plantation  is  declared  to  be  equal  to  an 
endowment  fund  of  thirty  thousand  dollars.  It 
has  been,  to  a  great  extent,  the  support  of  the 
institution,  pupils  paying  for  their  tuition  by  an 
hour's  labor,  daily,  during  the  school  term. 

The  school  was  moved  from  Jackson  to  the 
plantation,  which  was  named  Mount  Beulah. 
Bro.  Faurot  died  in  October,  about  three  months 
after  the  purchase  of  the  plantation.  The  inter- 
ests of  the  school  staggered  under  the  blow.  The 
doctor  was  telegraphed  for.  He  came,  and,  in 
the  work  that  he  found  it  necessary  to  do,  he  be- 
came ill.  For  several  weeks  he  was  confined  to 
his  bed  with  a  slow  fever.  This  was  a  natural 
result  of  the  change  of  climate,  as  he  is  peculiarly 
susceptible    to    hot    weather,  always    suffering  in 


BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.  A.  BELDING.  IO9 

health  during  the  heated  spells  of  summer.  He 
was  most  kindly  cared  for  and  has  often  expressed 
his  appreciation  of  the  attention  he  received. 
Upon  his  recovery  he  set  earnestly  to  work  to 
supply  the  place  left  vacant  by  the  death  of  Bro. 
Faurot. 

An  arrangement  was  finally  entered  into  with 
Bro.  Jeptha  Hobbs,  of  Kentucky,  to  take  the 
presidency  of  the  Institute.  This  he  did  about 
the  last  of  the  year  (1882),  the  contract  being  for 
five  years.  The  terms  were  that  he  was  to  run 
the  school  and  pay  all  expenses  himself,  for 
which  he  received  the  use  of  the  farm.  All  cash 
contributed  to  the  work  (now  known  as  the  South- 
ern Christian  Institute)  was  to  be  devoted  to  per- 
manent improvements  ;  all  other  donations  were  to 
be  for  his  own  use.  He  faithfully  carried  out  his 
contract,  and  the  school  and  plantation  both  pros- 
pered under  his  management. 

In  the  appendix  will  be  found  a  description  of 
the  plantation  written  by  a  correspondent  of  the 
New  York  Herald  and  published  in  that  paper  in 
1883  ;  also,  an  abstract  of  the  origin,  aims  and 
purposes  of  the  Institute,  as  given  in  their  pros- 
pectus of  1887. 

Towards  the  last  of  1887,  Dr.  Belding  closed 
his  connection  with  the  Institute.  Several  thou- 
sand dollars  were  due  him,  for  which  he  took 
various  notes,  most  of  which  were  payable  after 
the  death  of  the  makers.  These  notes  had  been 
obtained  by  him  for  the  Institute  and  were,  of* 
course,  rather  uncertain   assets.     He  also  turned 


I  lO  BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.  A.  BELDING. 

over  to  the  General  Missionary  Society  (which 
assumed  the  work)  between  seventy-five  and 
eighty  shares  of  the  stock,  which  cost  him  fifty 
dollars  per  share. 

It  has  been  the  same  in  every  work  in  which 
he  has  been  engaged — he  took  what  compensation 
was  offered,  and  then  helped  liberally,  with  no 
thought  of  his  own  needs. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

In  July,  1883,  a  call  to  "  come  and  aid  us  in 
San  Francisco"  was  heard  and  heeded  by  the* 
doctor.'  Leaving,  temporarily,  the  work  of  the 
Southern  Christian  Institute,  in  which  he  was 
then  engaged,  he  started  for  California,  where  he 
labored  until  March  29,  1884.  This  trip  is  one  of 
which  the  memories  are  very  pleasant,  and  good 
were  the  results  of  his  work  while  there.  A  lot 
was  purchased  and  paid  for,  and  a  balance  of 
nearly  three  thousand  dollars  remained  in  the 
treasury.  (Total,  about  nine  thousand  five  hun- 
dred dollars.) 

On  the  last  evening  of  his  stay,  a  farewell  re- 
ception was  tendered  him,  and  he  was  the  recipient 
of  a  fine  gold-mounted  cane,  having  engraved  on 
its  head,  "  To  Dr.  W.  A.  Belding,  by  San  Fran- 
cisco friends." 

In  a  letter  written  from  Dallas,  Tex.,  soon 
after,  the  doctor  says  :  "I  have  been  caned  at 
home  and  in  private,  but  never  publicly  before. 
But  'twas  kindly  done,  and  tears  were  in  my 
eyes  and  also  in  the  eyes  of  most  of  those  assem- 
bled. Oh,  these  meetings  and  partings  of  friends 
—especially  the  partings."  F.  W.  Pattee  took 
charge  of  the  San  Francisco  congregation,  and  the 
farewell  to  the  doctor  served  as  a  welcome  to  him 
and  his  wife. 

The  trip  east  was  by  way  of  Los  Angeles  and 
the  Southern  Pacific   Railroad,  with  a  stop  over 
Lord's  Day  at  Dallas,   Tex.,  and  a   few  days  at 
(III) 


112  BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.  A.   BELDING. 

Mt.  Beulah,  where  he  found  the  school  flourish- 
ing. The  month  of  May  finds  him  at  Pittstown 
with  wife  and  son. 

Englewood,  then  a  suburb  of  Chicago,  was  the 
scene  of  his  labors  in  1887.  In  July  of  that  year, 
he  undertook  to  build  a  house  for  a  little  band 
who  met  on  Sixty-third  Street  in  a  rented  store. 
During  a  stay  of  six  months,  he  bought  a  lot, 
built,  furnished  and  paid  for  a  house,  and  inter- 
ested the  Chicago  churches  in,  and  formed,  a  city 
board  of  missions.  This  board  is  composed  of 
two  members  chosen  from  each  church  organiza- 
tion within  the  city  of  Chicago,  and  additional 
members  from  congregations  numbering  over  one 
hundred.  The  duty  and  object  of  the  board  was 
to  select  mission  points,  appoint  persons  to  take 
charge  of  these  missions,  and  look  after  their  finan- 
cial support — in  short,  to  increase  the  number  of 
churches  in  Chicago.  This  board  has  not  only 
helped  establish  the  Englewood  church,  but  has  a 
North  and  a  West  Side  mission,  both  progressing 
nicely. 

In  the  appendix  will  be  found  a  copy  of  a  testi- 
monial presented  the  doctor  by  this  board,  show- 
ing their  appreciation  of  his  efforts  in  the  difficult 
work  of  raising  money  in  Englewood. 

It  will  be  remembered  by  the  reader  that  he 
raised  the  money  to  purchase  the  first  church  of 
the  Disciples  in  Chicago.  Adding  that  to  these 
later  labors  will  explain  why,  of  all  cities,  his  wel- 
come is  perhaps  warmest  in  the  "  city  by  the 
lake." 


BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.  A.  BELDING.  II3 

W.  H.  Rogers,  in  his  Boston  letter  to  the  Mis- 
sionary Weekly  (October,  1888),  reporting  the 
annual  meeting  at  Worcester,  speaks  of  the  doctor 
in  a  way  that  evidences  the  feeling  regarding  him 
possessed  by  all  who  have  known  him  and  his 
work.     It  follows : 

"  The  Disciples  of  New  England  had  their  an- 
nual festival  at  Worcester  from  Friday,  Septem- 
ber 28,  until  Monday,  October  i,  closing  with 
their  highly  prized  farewell  meeting,  Monday 
morning. 

"  Bro.  W.  A.  Belding  preached  on  Friday 
night  and  hastened  to  Brooklyn  the  next  morn- 
ing. Bro.  Belding  is  venerable  according  to  the 
almanac  only.  In  face,  in  spirit,  in  faith,  in 
hope,  and  in  cheerfulness,  in  energy  as  well  as  in 
general  movements  of  the  body,  he  is  still  in  his 
prime.  He  is  a  sort  of  patron  saint  in  the  hearts 
of  the  Worcester  brethren.  In  his  Christian 
make-up  he  unites  the  rocky  firmness  of  the  olden 
time  with  the  catholicity  and  growth  of  the  mod- 
ern period.  The  older  brethren  trust  him,  while 
the  younger  brethren  rejoice  in  him  as  their  own. 
Few  men  among  us  have  raised  more  money  for 
religious,  educational  and  benevolent  pui^poses; 
than  he,  and  with  his  own  hands  he  has  buried 
some  ten  thousand  believing  penitents  with  their 
Lord  in  baptism. 

* '  The  time  was  when  he  knew  personally  al- 
most every  one  of  our  preachers,  and  it  is  an  evi- 
dence of  our  growth  that  now  there  are  so  many 
among  us  who  have  never  seen  his  face." 


1 14  BIOGRAPHY    OF    DR.  W.  A.  BELDING. 

The  doctor  now  lives  at  Pittstown  with  his  wife 
and  son,  Sherman  W.,  who  also  has  a  wife  and 
two  young  sons. 

He  preaches  on  Lord's  Day  for  the  little  con- 
gregation at  Pittstown  Corners,  and  occasionally 
breaks  the  monotony  by  attending  or  holding  a 
meeting  elsewhere.  A  man  of  eighty,  he  still 
holds  his  faculties  unimpaired,  and  his  form  is 
almost  as  straight  as  of  yore.  His  endurance  is 
somewhat  lessened  of  late,  but  his  hair  remains 
dark,  and  his  eyesight  is  better  than  it  has  been 
for  years.  He  has  discarded  glasses  altogether, 
and,  were  it  not  for  a  slight  deafness,  his  friends 
could  not  see  that  time  had  touched  him. 

Verily  a  sweet  and  pleasant  journey  on  the 
downhill  side  of  life  is  his,  surrounded  by  his 
family,  with  no  recent  gaps  in  their  little  circle  ; 
with  the  family  of  his  eldest  son,  Rufus,  near 
him,  at  Troy,  and  hosts  of  friends  and  brethren 
glad  to  see  him  wherever  he  goes  ;  and  with  the 
proud  consciousness  that  he  has  been  of  use  in  the 
world  in  the  cause  he  espoused. 


APPENDIX 


GENEALOGY  OF  BELDING  FAMILY. 


Richard  and  William  Bayldon  (Brothers)    Were  Among 
THE  Earliest  Settlers  of  Wethersfield,  Conn., 

1640. 


WILLIAM  BAYLDON 

moved  to  Norwalk  with  family 
1646. 


Samuel,  John,  Mary,  DANIEL,  Susaunna,  Nathaniel, 
b.  1648 


Nathaniel,  Daniel,  John,  SAMUEL,  Richard,  John,  William,  and  seven  daughters, 
b.  1687 

SAMUEL, 
b.  1729 


DANIEL,  John, 
b.  1754 


Alfred,  Amos,  Allen,  RUFUS,   Sears. 
b.  1778    d.  1854 


Kuth,  Charlotte,  Martha,  Anson,  Edwin  C,  WARREN  ASA,  Alvin,  Sabin,  Louisa. 

b.  1816 


Rufus  E.  and  five  who  died  young  (by  first  wife).     Sherman  W.  (by  second  wife), 
b.  1841  b.  1868 


Warren  S.,  Paul  W.,    Louis  K.,   Anson  W.  Victor  L.,  Leroy  S. 

b.  1862  b.  1868       b.  1876       b.  1881  b.  1895    b.  March  5,  1897 

Myra  E.  i^'^.r^^C 

b.  1884 


A    TROY    CHAPLAIN    PRAYS    FOR    THE 
LOBBY. 

[From  the  Troy  "Times."] 

Rev.  Dr.  Belding,  of  this  city,  offered  prayer  in 
the  Assembly  on  Friday  last.  The  correspondent 
of  the  New  York  Titnes  says  of  him  : 

"Among  the  chaplains  who  are  in  the  habit  of 
alternately  offering  prayer  in  this  Legislature, 
Rev.  Dr.  Belding,  of  Troy,  appears  most  clearly 
to  comprehend  the  situation,  and  to  direct  his 
petitions  to  a  quarter  where  they  are  most  needed. 
He  seldom  comes  down  here  to  officiate  as  chap- 
lain, but,  when  he  does,  he  hits  the  nail  on  the 
head  every  time.  In  opening  the  Assembly  this 
morning  he  prayed,  among  other  things,  that 
'  the  men  who  are  in  the  habit  of  loitering  about 
the  halls  of  the  Legislature  with  bribery  in  their 
hands  might  be  induced  to  see  the  error  of  their 
ways,  and  that  their  wicked  designs,  if  they  had 
any,  might  be  thwarted.'  There  was  no  response 
to  this  appeal  either  from  members  or  lobbyists, 
but  the  people  from  the  State  at  large  will  no 
doubt  second  the  petition  of  Rev.  Dr.  Belditig." 
(iiy) 


PIONEER  PREACHERS. 

The  recent  death  of  J.J.  Moss  has  called  my 
attention  again  to  the  rapidly  vanishing  number 
of  Disciple  preachers  who  were  well  known  and 
active  on  the  Western  Reserve.  Among  these  J. 
J.  Moss  was  one  of  the  earliest  and  one  of  the 
strongest.  My  father  heard  him  preach  for  the 
first  time  in  Randolph,  Portage  County,  in  August 
of  the  year  1832.  At  this  meeting  W.  A.  Beld- 
ing,  whose  name  should  appear  in  the  list  of  the 
preachers  fairly  called  pioneers,  was  baptized. 

Bro.  Belding  baptized  me.  I  made  the  first 
exhortation  I  ever  tried  to  make,  at  a  meeting  in 
North  Royalton,  where  he  was  preaching,  and 
his  name  for  me  is  written  large  in  the  honored 
list  of  the  pioneers.  Bro.  Belding  has  baptized 
more  than  ten  thousand  persons,  and  has  been  in 
the  ministry  almost  sixty  years.  J.  M.  Monroe, 
in  his  brief  notice  of  his  uncle,  J.  J.  Moss,  speaks 
of  J.  H.  Jones  as  the  only  survivor  of  the  pioneer 
preachers  of  the  Western  Reserve.  But  there 
still  lives  W.  A.  Belding,  who  is  nearly  eighty 
years  of  age;  Wm.  Moody,  hale  and  hearty  at 
eighty-five  ;  P.  Green,  who-  will  soon  enter  his 
eighty-fifth  year,  and  J.  H.  Jones.  In  regard  to 
Bro.  Moss,  it  was  my  privilege  on  his  eightieth- 
birthday  to  make,  in  behalf  of  many  friends,  an 
address  congratulating  him  on  his  having  reached 
the  age  of  fourscore.  He  was  a  sturdy  disciple 
of  the  Lord.  His  ambition  to  extend  the  kingdom 
of  Christ  was  as  restless  as  that  of  Alexander  of 
(118) 


APPENDIX.  119 

Macedon,  and  his  courage  in  facing  every  enemy 
of  the  truth  was  equal  to  that  of  Julius  Caesar. 

It  will  not  be  long  before  the  last  of  those 
glorious  men  will  be  known  only  in  the  memories 
that  remain  and  never  die.  May  we,  their  sons 
and  grandsons,  be  as  faithful  to  our  generations 
as  they  were  to  theirs.  F.  M.  Green. 

Wilmington,  O.,  June  22,  1895. 


TESTIMONIAL  TO   DR.  W.  A.  BELDING. 

City  board  of  Christian  missions,  i 
Chicago,  January  9,  1888     i 

Whereas,  Our  beloved  brother,  Dr.  W.  A. 
Belding,  did,  at  the  earnest  and  combined  solici- 
tation of  this  Board  and  the  congregation  of 
disciples  in  Englewood,  undertake  the  laborious 
work  of  securing  for  said  congregation  a  house 
oi  worship  ;  and, 

Whereas,  This  undertaking  has  involved  on 
the  part  of  our  brother  a  protracted  absence  of 
months  from  his  distant  home  and  family  ;  and, 

Whereas,  His  endeavors  have  been  crowned 
with  abundant  and  marked  success,  wherein  we 
do  greatly  rejoice  and  pay  humble  tribute  to  the 
God  of  all  grace  ;  therefore  be  it 

Resolved,  That  not  only  do  we  desire  to  place 
on  record  our  entire  approval  and  satisfaction 
with  his  work,  but  that  our  heartfelt  thanks  and 
grateful  appreciation  be  hereby  tendered  him  for 
the  unselfish  devotion  he  has  exhibited  in  this 
enterprise,  and  for  the  sacrifice  he  has  made  in 
order  to  its  accomplishment. 

Be  it  further  resolved.  That  a  copy  of  these 
resolutions  be  furnished  Bro.  Belding. 

H.  H.  Hubbard,  \  ^ 
W.  P.  Keeler,     S 
(120) 


SOUTHERN  CHRISTIAN  INSTITUTE. 

[From  the  New  York  "Herald."] 
The  name  of  Hinds  County,  Miss.,  is  historic 
in  connection  with  the  riots  of  1876,  wherein  the 
colored  voters  were  driven  to  the  swamps.  It  is 
one  of  the  centers  of  black  population.  Twenty- 
years  ago  General  Grant  had  crossed  the  Missis- 
sippi below  Vicksburg,  moved  on  eastward,  and 
many  a  soldier  still  remembers  the  battle  of  Cham- 
pion Hills.  Nearly  three  thousand  men  were 
buried  on  the  field.  The  enemy  fell  back  toward 
Big  Black  River.  At  McGee  farm  the  struggle 
was  sharp,  and  there  shot  and  shell  have  been 
thrown  from  the  ditches  dug  to  drain  the  cotton 
fields,  now  cultivated  by  the  free  labor  of  black 
men,  who,  after  that,  were  made  Union  soldiers. 
A  great  plantation  house  stood  on  a  beautiful 
eminence  overlooking  the  Vicksburg  road  and 
the  Black  River.  In  the  front  was  a  wide  lawn 
and  on  the  east  a  garden  of  flowers,  while  in  the 
rear  southward  was  a  cotton-gin  and  rows  of 
negro  cabins.  It  was  known  as  the  Cook  plan- 
tation of  two  thousand  acres  or  more.  The  owner 
mustered  his  slaves,  and  the  cotton  grew  in  fields 
miles  aw^y  toward  sunset  along  the  Black  River. 
The  woman  of  the  mansion  commanded  its  halls, 
and  there  are  tales  of  tying  the  negroes  to  the 
shade  trees,  and  in  the  strength  of  her  own  arm 
lashing  them  with  the  whip.  How  swift  came 
the  retribution  !     Call  it  providence,  call  it  fate, 

(m) 


122  APPENDIX. 

call  it  what  you  may.  Cannon  balls  fell  close  on 
that  house.  A  water  pond  near  by  was  drained, 
and  in  its  mire  a  solid  shot  had  lain  these  twenty 
years.  The  soldiers  bivouacked  in  the  woods 
southwest.  Names  and  dates  cut  in  the  trees  in 
1861-63  still  show  plainly. 

The  mansion  was  used  for  a  hospital.  The 
spring  by  the  river  bank  gave  water  to  friend  and 
foe.  The  plantation  was  stripped  and  its  owner 
gone  The  railroad  bridge  at  the  river  was  de- 
stroyed, but  Grant  marched  on.  We  all  know 
the  result  of  that  march,  and  the  siege  which 
followed. 

The  Southern  Christian  Institute  has  it  in  con- 
trol now.  Two  hundred  boys  and  girls  have  been 
taught  to  study  within   its  walls  the  past  winter. 

If  one  is  up  at  sunrise  here,  he  finds  the  morn- 
ing light  breaking  over  the  little  town  of  Edwards, 
on  the  east.  It  is  a  great  cotton  market.  Near 
the  mansion  now  occupied  for  the  colored  school 
is  some  trace  of  the  grand  garden  of  former  days. 
A  close  lin^  of  cedar-trees  partly  hides  it  on  the 
east,  and  central  through  the  ground  from  north 
to  south  are  ridges  thrown  up  for  beds  of  flowers. 
On  the  north  side  all  there  is  left  to  mark  the 
fearful  days  of  the  olden  times  is  a  single  rose- 
tree,  or  rather  a  dense  clump  of  the  Cherokee 
rose,  which  stands  six  to  ten  feet  high,  and  covers 
a  spot,  say  fifty  feet  square.  It  was  covered 
with  buds  just  ready  for  bloom,  and  in  a  few 
days  would  be  one  solid  ball  of  white  ro§es.  .  We 
measured  a  square   of    the   buds   in    sight,    and 


APPENDIX.  123 

counted  in  order  to  estimate  the  bloom.  It  will 
blossom  a  half-million  roses.  From  the  delight- 
ful site  of  the  mansion  the  plantation  stretches 
westward  away  to  the  clumps  of  shade  trees  by 
the  river.  It  reminds  us  of  the  Garfield  farm  at 
Mentor,  and  the  railway  cuts  through  from  east 
to  west  going  to  Vicksburg. 

The  Southern  Christian  Institute  originated 
with  Thomas  Munnell  and  others  in  1873.  He 
was  then  secretary  of  the  General  Christian  Mis- 
sionary Convention.  Through  the  labors  of 
George  Owen  (white)  and  Levin  Wood  (col- 
ored) many  freedmen  in  Mississippi  became  dis- 
ciples. Twenty  or  thirty  churches  were  formed, 
or  came  in  a  body  from  the  Baptists.  To  render 
this  work  permanent  and  effective,  Munnell  fore- 
saw there  must  be  a  class  of  preachers  and  Sun- 
day-school teachers  much  better  educated  than 
any  those  days  furnished.  To  supply  this  need, 
he  projected  the  Southern  Christian  Institute.  In 
connection  with  his  general  work,  he  made  two 
trips  to  Mississippi  about  this  time  to  push  forward 
the  work.  », 

By  special  act  of  the  Legislature,  he  obtained 
a  charter,  drafted  by  Ovid  Butler,  of  Indianapo- 
lis, approved  March  5,  1875,  authorizing  an  or- 
ganization on  a  stock  basis  of  not  less  than  ten 
thousand  dollars  in  fifty-dollar  shares,  and  ex- 
empting all  property,  both  personal  and  real,  to 
the  amount  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
dollars,  from  all  taxes  whatever. 

Through  the  personal  solicitations    of  George 


1 24  APPENDIX. 

Owen,  Thomas  Munnell  and  Dr.  W.  A.  Belding, 
the  minimum  quantity  of  stock  was  taken.  At 
Indianapolis,  December  4,  1877,  the  company- 
organized  and  elected  trustees.  Dr.  Belding  was 
made  financial  agent. 


SALVATION. 

"  Wherefore  he  is  able  also  to  save  to  the  uttermost  them 
who  come  unto  God  by  him,  seeing  he  ever  liveth  to  make 
intercession  for  them"  (Heb.  vii.  25). 

The  idea  of  salvation  suggests  danger.  If 
there  were  no  danger,  there  would  be  no  need 
of  salvation.  Let  us  first  inquire  what  the  salva- 
tion referred  to  in  the  text  involves. 

A  salvation  to  the  uttermost  can  mean  nothing 
less  than  a  salvation  from  everything  which  annoys 
or  makes  unhappy,  and  these  can  be  summed  up 
in  four  things — sin,  disease,  death  and  the  grave. 
Or,  in  other  words,  from  the  love  of  sin,  the 
practice  of  sin,  the  guilt  of  sin  and  the  conse- 
quences of  sin. 

Of  whom  does  the  writer  speak?  Of  Jesus  of 
Nazareth,  of  whom  the  angel  told  his  mother: 
**  Thou  shalt  call  his  name  Jesus,  for  he  shall 
save  his  people  from  their  sins." 

The  next  question  is.  Is  he  able  to  do  it?  Go 
with  me  to  the  bedside  of  the  paralytic,  and  hear 
Jesus  saying  to  him,  "  Thy  sins  are  all  forgiven 
thee,"  and  when  he  discovers  among  those  gath- 
ered about,  them  who  doubted  as  to  his  power  to 
forgive  sins,  he  says,  "  Whether  is  it  easier  for 
me  to  say.  Thy  sins  are  all  forgiven  ;  or  to  say. 
Arise,  take  up  thy  bed,  and  walk?"  and  that  they 
might  know  that  he  had  power  on  earth  to  for- 
give sins,  he  says  to  the  sick  man:  "Arise,  take 
up  thy  bed,  and  walk."  Thus  he  demonstrates 
his  power  over  sin  and  disease. 
(125) 


126  -   APPENDIX. 

'But,  again,  he  meets  the  funeral  procession, 
which  he.  commands  to  stop.  They  are  bear- 
ing to  the  lonely  grave  the  only  son  of  a  widowed 
mother. '  He  calls  him  back  to  life  and  presents 
him  to  his  mother  living  and  well. 

Still  again,  we  follow  him  to  the  grave  of 
Lazarus.  He  stops  and  sheds  tears  of  sympathy 
with  the  weeping  sisters,  for  the  record  says : 
"Jesus  wept."  Then,  lifting  up  his  heart  and 
voice  in  solemn  prayer  to  his  Father  in  heaven, 
he  says,  "  Father,  hear  me  ;"  then,  turning  to  the 
grave  in  which  the  dead  man  lay,  speaks  with  a 
voice  that  not  only  penetrates  the  dark  recesses 
of  the  tomb,  but  also  the  dull  ear  of  the  dead 
man,  "Lazarus,  come  forth,"  and  said  to  those 
weeping  ones,  "Unbind  him,  and  let  him  go." 
He  has  now  demonstrated  his  power  over  all  the 
enemies  of  humanity  which  can  afflict  or  make 
thefm  unhappy  in  this  world  or  any  other. 

Next  we  inquire.  Is  he  willing?  Yes,  for  he 
invites  all  who  are  weary  and  heavy  laden  to 
come  unto  him.  John,  in  the  Book  of  Revela- 
tion, says  :  "  The  Spirit  and  the  bride  say.  Come. 
Let  him  that  heareth  say.  Come.  Let  him  that  is 
athirst  come.  And  whosoever  will,  let  him  take  the 
water  of  life  freely."  We  have  learned  that  he 
is  both  able  and  willing ;  thank  God.  If  now  we 
can  find  out  the  conditions  of  this,  the  most 
precious  gift  of  God  to  man,  and  find  in  our  own 
hearts  a  willingness  to  accept  the  gift  upon  God's 
own  terms,  we  are  nigh  the  kingdom  of  God. 

We  learn  from  Paul,  in   the   same  letter  from 


APPENDIX.  127 

which  we  have  selected  our  text,  that  Jesus, 
"  although  a  son,  learned  obedience  by  the  things 
which  he  suffered,  and  became  the  author  of 
eternal  salvation  to  those  who  obey  him."  Also, 
in  closing  up  God's  Book,  we  are  told  in  language 
which  can  not  be  misunderstood  that  those  who 
do  his  commandments  are  blessed,  and  shall  be 
permitted  to  partake  of  the  tree  of  life,  and  to 
enter  through  the  gates  into  the  city,  the  disobe- 
dient and  wicked  shut  out.  (Rev.  xxii.  14,  15.) 
I  now  speak  with  reverence,  and  say  that  God 
can  not  save  to  the  uttermost,  or  save  from  sin, 
without  saving  from  its  love,  its  practice,  its  guilt 
and  its  consequences,  from  the  first  three  in  this 
world  and  life,  and  from  the  fourth  and  last  in 
the  world  and  life  to  come. 

As  the  God  of  nature  is  the  God  of  religion, 
and  all  blessings  in  the  realm  of  nature  are  con- 
ditional, why  is  it  unreasonable  to  suppose  that 
all  spiritual  blessings  are  also  conditional?  The 
question  is,  How  does  he  propose  to  save  men 
from  the  love  of  sin?  I  answer  unhesitatingly,  by 
faith.  Faith  in  what  or  whom?  Not  in  a  dogma, 
not  in  a  church,  but  in  a  person — '* Jesus  the 
Christ  as  the  Son  of  God,  divine  as  well  as 
human  ;  faith  in  him  as  the  only  Savior."  "  God 
so  loved  the  world  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten 
Son,  that  whosoever  belie veth  in  him  might  not 
perish,  but  have  everlasting  life." 

This  faith  begets  such  love  in  the  heart  that  it 
destroys,  or  saves  from,  the  love  of  sin.  No  more 
can  the  love  of  God  and  the  love  of  sin  dwell 


128  APPENDIX. 

in  the  same  heart  at  the  same  time  than  light 
and  darkness  in  the  same  room.  None  can  be 
saved  from  sin  without  being  saved  from  its  prac- 
tice. What  is  the  condition?  I  speak  the  sen- 
timent of  the  Bible  when  I  say,  repentance. 
"Except  ye  repent,  ye  shall  all  likewise  perish," 
says  Jesus. 

I  have  often  asked,  **  What  is  repentance  ?  "  and 
nearly  as  often  get  the  answer,  "It  is  sorrow." 
But  another  says  it  is  "godly  sorrow,"  and  that 
is  not  all,  for  Paul  declares  that  "godly  sorrow 
worketh  repentance  that  needs  not  to  be  re- 
pented of" 

The  Scriptural  meaning  of.  repentance,  then,  is 
a  sorrow  for  sin,  a  determination  to  forsake  it,  and 
that  determination  put  in  practice  as  the  good 
Book  teaches.  "Let  the  wicked  man  forsake 
his  way,  and  the  unrighteous  his  thoughts  ;  return 
unto  the  Lord,  who  will  have  mercy,  and  unto 
our  God,  who  will  abundantly  pardon."  Who 
will  deny  that  this  repentance  will  save  from  the 
practice  of  sin? 

The  next  question,  and  a  very  important  one, 
is,  when  a  person  is  saved  from  the  love  of  sin 
by  faith  and  the  practice  by  repentance,  is  he 
necessarily  saved  from  its  guilt?  The  answer  is 
no.  Permit  me  to  illustrate.  I  do  not  offer  this 
as  proof,  but  simply  to  get  the  thought  before 
the  reader.  Suppose  you  were  dealing  in  goods, 
and  my  habit  has  been  to  purchase  on  credit ;  I 
at  once  decide  to  buy  no  more  on  credit,  and  in 
the  future  pay  for  every  article  which  I  purchase. 


APPENDIX.  129 

This  resolution  is  fully  carried  out ;  does  this  can- 
cel or  pay  the  debts  of  the  past?  If  so,  it  might 
be  an  easy  way  of  paying  debts,  but  I  think  not 
very  satisfactory  to  the  one  who  holds  the  claim. 
Now,  its  application  is  readily  discovered.  Here 
is  a  man  who  has  spent  many  years  of  his  life 
in  sin.  In  hearing  or  reading  of  the  love  of  God 
manifested  to  man  in  the  gift  of  his  only  Son 
to  save  a  perishing  world,  his  understanding  is 
enlightened,  his  affections  captivated,  he  finds 
and  acknowledges  himself  a  sinner,  and  forms 
the  resolution,  I  will  try  to  be  a  better  man. 
Now,  suppose  he  could  live  and  does  without 
committing  another  sin  during  his  whole  life, 
what  is  to  become  of  those  he  has  committed? 
One  of  three  things  may  be  done  :  make  an  atone- 
ment (pay  the  debt),  which,  if  he  can  do,  no 
need  of  a  Savior  ;  they  may  be  forgiven,  or  stand 
upon  the  books  against  him  forever. 

Thanks  to  our  kind  Father,  who  proposes  to 
forgive,  and  he  has  told  us  in  his  word  (Heb. 
ix.  22)  that  "without  the  shedding  of  blood  there 
is  no  remission."  He  also  assures  us  in  the  same 
connection  that  the  blood  of  animals  could  not 
purge  from  sin  ;  nothing  short  of  the  blood  of 
Christ  could  cleanse  from  its  guilt.  This  is  the 
sentiment  of  all  who  accept  the  sacrificial  offering 
of  Christ,  but  when  and  where  and  how  this  is 
applied  is  the  question  to  which  I  would  invite 
the  reader's  most  careful  and  candid  consideration. 
Let  me  ask  the  thoughtful,  When  was  that  blood 
shed?     Was  it  not  in  his  death,  and   more  than 


130  APPENDIX. 

eighteen  hundred  years  ago?  Who,  then,  can 
expect  a  literal  application  of  his  blood  ?  It  is  by 
faith  the  blood  is  sprinkled  on  the  heart,  but  when 
and  where?  When  we  approach  his  death,  and 
in  the  language  of  Paul  (Rom.  vi.  1-4)  by  being 
baptized  into  it,  or,  as  Paul  affirms  (Heb.  x.  22)  : 
"  Having  our  hearts  sprinkled  from  an  evil  con- 
science, and  our  bodies  washed  with  pure  water." 
Now  the  question  may  arise  in  the  mind,  With 
what  is  the  heart  sprinkled?  Peter  answers  that 
question  in  his  first  letter:  "Elect  according  to 
the  foreknowledge  of  God  the  Father,  through 
sanctification  of  the  Spirit,  unto  obedience  and 
sprinkling  of  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ"  (i  Peter 
i.  2). 

As  we  have  learned  that  the  sinner  is  saved 
from  the  love  of  sin  by  faith,  from  the  practice 
of  sin  by  repentance,  and  from  the  guilt  of  sin  by 
the  blood  of  Christ,  all  this  is  in  this  life,  and  we 
now  feel  anxious  to  know  how  we  can  continue 
in  this  saved  state,  and  enjoy  the  full  fruition  "  or 
salvation  to  the  uttermost  "  which  God  has  prom- 
ised, for  we  are  still  exposed  to  and  afflicted  by 
the  consequences  of  sin,  which  are  disease,  death 
and  the  grave.  The  good  man  dies  ;  the  innocent 
and  unconscious  babe  dies.  If  the  Christian  is 
overtaken  in  a  fault,  John  tells  us  in  his  first  let- 
ter (i  John  i.  9),  writing  to  Christians:  "  If  we 
confess  our  sins,  he  is  faithful  and  just  to  forgive 
us  our  sins,  and  to  cleanse  us  from  all  unright- 
eousness." 

Thus   we   discover  that    prayers    preceded    by 


APPENDIX.  131 

faith,  repentance  and  confession  are  the  condi- 
tions upon  which  the  believing,  penitent  and  bap- 
tized person  is  promised  forgiveness.  When 
Simon  the  sorcerer  had  believed  and  was  bap- 
tized, he  committed  sin  in  supposing  that  the 
miraculous  gift  could  be  purchased  with  money, 
and  Peter  (Acts  viii.  22)  commands  him  to  "  re- 
pent, and  pray  God  that  the  thoughts  of  his  heart 
might  be  forgiven."  Not  for  the  forgiveness  of 
all  the  sins  of  his  life,  for  he  had  secured  this  by 
accepting  Christ  and  complying  (as  he  was 
taught)  with  the  conditions  which  Jesus  himself 
had  commanded  the  apostles  to  proclaim  (Mark 
xvi.  16),  "He  that  believeth  and  is  baptized 
shall  be  saved,"  and  the  record  says  Simon  did 
believe  and  was  baptized,  and  if  the  Savior's 
words  were  true,  he  was  saved  from  past  sins, 
and  yet  like  all  others  in  this  life  exposed  to  the 
consequences  of  sin,  from  which  he  must  be  saved 
in  order  to  enjoy  the  full  salvation,  or  that  which 
is  to  the  "  uttermost." 

This  third  and  last  salvation  is  to  be  "worked 
out"  as  the  apostle  of  Jesus  exhorts  in  Phil.  ii. 
12  —  "work  out  your  own  salvation  with  fear 
and  trembling,"  etc.  We  may  therefore  conclude 
that  the  conditions  of  this  final  salvation  are  secured 
by  forming  a  Christian  character.  Hence  Peter 
exhorts  in  his  second  letter  (2  Peter  i.  6-1 1). 
Add  something  to  your  faith.  He  evidently  did 
not  accept  the  doctrine  of  "justification  by  faith 
only,"  but  believed  additions  were  essential; 
faith  being  alone  is  dead.     "Add  to  your  faith 


132  APPENDIX. 

virtue  [or  courage] ,  to  virtue  knowledge,  to 
knowledge  temperance,  to  temperance  patience, 
to  patience  brotherly  kindness,  and  to  brotherly 
kindness  charity  "  (or  love) .  These  make  a  per- 
fect character,  and  secure  admission  into  the  ever- 
lasting kingdom,  for  Peter  says  in  the  same 
passage  :  "  If  you  do  these  things,  you  shall  never 
fall,  for  so  an  entrance  shall  be  ministered  unto 
you  abundantly  into  the  everlasting  kingdom  of 
our  Lord  and  Savior  Jesus  Christ."  This  salva- 
tion is  complete,  "  saved  to  the  uttermost,"  saved 
from  everything  which  can  annoy  or  make  un- 
happy, for  in  that  kingdom  nothing  shall  be  per- 
mitted to  enter  which  can  disturb  the  peace  of  its 
inhabitants. 

God  shall  wipe  all  tears  from  all  faces,  and 
banish  sorrow  from  every  heart ;  permit  his  chil- 
dren to  look  upon  his  face  without  an  intervening 
veil,  and  enjoy  his  smile  forever.  There  with 
purified  spirits  and  immortalized  bodies,  sin  for- 
ever banished,  saved  from  its  love  by  our  faith 
in  Christ,  from  its  practice  by  repentance,  which 
results  in  reformation,  from  its  guilt  by  the  blood 
of  Christ  (applied  by  faith  when  we  were  bap- 
tized into  his  death) ,  and  from  its  consequences 
by  forming  a  Christian  character. 

In  conclusion  let  me  ask.  Who  would  not  be  a 
Christian?  All  which  is  in  this  world  worth  pos- 
sessing belongs  to  God's  children,  and  all  that 
the  heart  can  desire  is  promised  in  the  next. 
Paul,  in  Rom.  viii.  32,  asks:  '*  If  he  that  spared 
not  his  own  Son,  but  delivered  him  up  for  us  all, 


APPENDIX.  133 

how  shall  he  not  with  him  freely  give  us  all 
things?"  Again  he  declares  (i  Cor.  iii.  21-23) 
''that  all  things  are  yours;  whether  Paul,  or 
Apollos,  or  Cephas,  or  the  world,  or  life,  or  death, 
or  things  present,  or  things  to  come  ;  all  are  yours  ; 
and  ye  are  Christ's  ;  and  Christ  is  God's."  Christ 
must  reign  until  all  enemies  are  put  under  his 
feet,  and  when  all  are  subdued,  even  the  last 
enemy  conquered,  which  is  death,  then  he  will 
deliver  up  the  kingdom  to  God,  even  the  Father, 
who  shall  be  all  in  all.  Christ's  reign  will  end, 
and  coming  up  the  golden  paved  street  in  the 
city  of  our  God  followed  by  the  blood-washed 
throng,  he  introduces  them  to  his  Father,  saying : 
"  Here,  Father,  am  I,  and  the  children  whom 
thou  hast  given  me."  Reader,  shall  you  and  I 
be  there?  May  the  Father  of  all  our  mercies 
help  us  to  be  ready. 


CHRISTIAN  UNION. 

SERMON  BY  DR.  W.   A.  BELDING. 

["Church  Union,"  May  27,  1876.] 

On  the  natal  day  of  the  world's  Savior,  the 
angelic  choir  sang  an  introductory  hymn  adapted 
to  his  mission:  "Glory  to  God  in  the  highest, 
peace  on  earth  and  good  will  to  men." 

In  the  Savior's  memorable  prayer,  recorded  in 
the  seventeenth  chapter  of  John's  testimony,  he 
unburdens  his  almost  bursting  heart  in  these  im- 
pressive words:  "  I  pray  not  for  these  alone,  but 
for  all  them  also  who  shall  believe  on  me  through 
their  word,  that  they  all  ma}^  be  one,  as  thou, 
Father,  art  in  me,  and  I  in  thee,  that  they  also 
may  be  one  in  us,  that  the  world  may  believe 
that  thou  hast  sent  me. " 

The  oft-repeated  sayings  of  those  men  whose 
lips  were  fired  by  God's  own  inspiration  in  their 
ministerial  labors,  give  full  evidence  of  their  true 
devotion  to  the  theme  :  "  Mind  the  same  thing"  ; 
*'  Speak  the  same  thing  "  ;  "  Be  of  one  heart  and 
of  one  mind";  "Mark  them  who  cause  divi- 
sions"; "While  one  says,  I  am  of  Paul,  and 
another,  I  am  of  Apollos,  you  walk  as  men  and 
are  carnal."  These  are  but  the  reiterations  of 
the  same  sentiment  sung  by  the  heavenly  choir  as 
it  left  the  plains  of  Bethlehem  for  its  native  home. 
These  utterances  were  prompted  by  the  same 
spirit  which  was  breathed  forth  in  the  Sayior's 
prayer,  and  which  guided  the  heavenly  messenger 
(134) 


APPENDIX.  135 

as  he  stood  beside  the  loving  John  upon  the  Isle 
of  Patmos,  and  uttered  the  last  words  to  be  re- 
vealed to  men  until  the  startling  cry,  "Behold, 
the  bridegroom  cometh,"  and  pronounced  that 
terrible  denunciation  against  him  who  dares  "  to 
add  to  or  take  away  from  the  words  written  in 
this  book"  (Rev.  xxii.  18,  19).  The  religious 
world  has  been  made  to  see,  and  to  deplore 
deeply,  the  divided  conditions  of  the  so-called 
church ;  an  interest  has  been  awakened  in  the 
hearts  of  thousands  to  search  for  "  the  old  paths," 
together  with  a  disposition  to  return  to  the  primi- 
tive oneness  of  the  church,  established  on  the  first 
Pentecost  after  the  crucifixion  of  the  world's  Re- 
deemer.    For  this  I  thank  God  and  take  courage. 

While  so  many  have  discovered  the  necessity 
there  is  for  a  platform,  broad  enough  and  strong 
enough  to  hold  and  carry  all  the  true  and  loving 
friends  of  Jesus,  they  have  failed  to  see  that  God 
has  provided  such  a  one,  and  are  themselves 
making  every  effort  to  erect  one,  which,  like 
themselves,  must  be  too  contracted  and  too  weak. 

Thus  far,  the  religious  world  has  advanced, 
and  in  the  right  direction.  They  have  organized 
associations  and  called  conventions — local  and 
general,  young  men's  and  old  men's,  young 
women's  and  old  women's  Christian  associations. 

When  they  come  from  their  various  religious 
homes  to  worship  in  these  associations,  they  meet 
to  worship  the  same  God,  to  love  and  adore  the 
same  divine  Savior,  and  enjoy  the  same  blessed 
and  divine  Spirit ;  but  when  they  go  out,  it  is  to 


136  APPENDIX. 

labor  with  all  their  wonted  zeal  to  build  higher 
and  stronger  these  partition  walls  which  have  so 
long  kept  apart  the  acknowledged  children  of  the 
living  God.  And  why  all  this?  Let  me  tell  it 
in  the  spirit  of  my  Master,  and  may  you,  my  dear 
brother,  hear  it ! 

When  you  go  to  the  place  where  these  associa- 
tions meet,  you  leave  your  "  isms  "  at  the  door — 
would  that  the  world  could  see  them  as  you  stack 
them  in  the  vestibule — Presbyterianism  and  Meth- 
odism, Baptistism  and  Episcopalianism,  Luther- 
anism  and  Congregationalism,  are  all  left  to  rest 
together  quietly  in  the  vestibule,  whilst  the  owners 
of  them  are  inside,  engaged  in  peaceful  worship, 
wishing  the  "  heavenly  meeting  would  ne'er  break 
up,  and  the  precious  Sabbath  never  end." 

Stand  at  the  door  until  the  last  sweet  hymn  is 
sung,  "  Blest  be  the  tie  that  binds  our  hearts  in 
Christian  love  "  ;  wait  until  the  last  amen  is  said, 
"that  the  peace  of  God  and  fellowship  of  the 
Divine  Spirit  may  go  and  abide  with  the  parting 
ones  forever."  See  the  bustle  and  commotion 
now.  As  the  passers-by  go  out,  they  return  to 
their  various  churches,  perhaps  to  worship  the 
self-same  hour,  each  eager  to  gather  up  the 
bundle  which  he  brought,  and  fearful  lest  he 
might,  perchance,  lay  his  hand  upon  the  package 
of  another,  less  precious  than  his  own. 
5'  ^  Oh,  that  each  one  could  leave  his  party  name 
and  creed  thus  laid  down,  without  which  he  has 
survived  for  a  few  hours,  giving  them  to  the  devil, 
where  they  all  belong  !     Or,  what  would  be  better 


APPENDIX.  137 

still,  make  of  them  a  bonfire,  that  they  may  pass 
out  of  sight  and  forever  be  forgotten. 

Methinks  if  this  were  done,  shrieks  of  despair 
would  be  the  common  wailing  of  the  legions  of 
the  dark  abode.  There  would  be  more  joy  among 
the  heavenly  host  than  even  at  creation's  dawn, 
and  the  angel  songsters  would  strike  a  still  higher 
keynote  upon  their  golden  harps  than  when  they 
sang  the  birth-song  of  God's  only  begotten  and 
beloved  Son.  When  this  shall  come  to  pass — 
and  for  it  I  will  ever  pray — "the  solitary  places 
shall  be  glad,  and  the  deserts  blossom  as  the 
rose." 

Then  hallelujahs  shall  be  shouted  from  ten  thou- 
sand tongues  which  never  lisped  the  praise  of 
God  before.  I  thank  my  God  there  is  a  common 
ground  of  union,  concerning  which  there  is  no 
controversy.  What  we  need  to  do,  and  what 
must  be  done,  before  the  time  so  anxiously  looked 
for,  and  so  earnestly  prayed  for,  will  come,  is  to 
accept  and  adopt  practically  what  we  all,  without 
a  dissenting  voice,  admit  in  theory. 

Pile  up  the  many  hundred  creeds  in  the  so- 
called  Protestant  religious  world,  lay  them  on  the 
precious  Bible,  and  with  a  ladder,  long  as  Jacob's, 
climb  to  the  topmost  one,  if  you  can  reach  it,  and 
upon  its  first  page  you  will  find  the  sentence  writ- 
ten :  *'  We  believe  the  Bible,  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments,  to  be  the  only  infallible  rule  of  faith 
and  practice.  What  is  not  contained  therein,  and 
can  not  be  proven  thereby,  ought  not  to  be  re- 
quired of  any  person  as  an  article  of  faith."     Let 


138  APPENDIX. 

US,  then,  adopt  the  creed  in  which  we  all  agree 
as  the  only  perfect  one,  and  about  which  there  is 
no  controversy. 

There  is  also  a  name  which  all  are  willing  to 
wear,  and  to  which  none  will  object.  My  Bap- 
tist brother  might  not  be  willing  to  accept  the  one 
so  gracefully  and  easily  worn  by  my  Presbyterian 
brother.  The  Episcopalian  would  most  emphat- 
ically reject  the  one  which  the  Lutheran  would  so 
kindly  give  him.  Thus  each  would  feel  about 
the  name  chosen  by  his  sectarian  friend  and 
brother.  Thank  the  Lord,  none  feels  slandered  or 
abused  when  called  a  Christian  or  disciple  of  the 
lowly  Nazarene.  Let  us,  then,  accept  the  name 
given  to  the  bride  by  the  Bridegroom  himself, 
and  reject  every  other  with  disdain  as  the  true 
and  loving  bride  of  Christ,  who  is  called  the  hus- 
band of  the  Church.  Let  us  strive  to  call  Bible 
things  by  Bible  names.  The  Church  of  God  or 
Church  of  Christ  are  Bible  names. 

When  we  can  get  rid  of  party  names  and  party 
creeds,  the  party  spirit  will  soon  die.  There  is 
not  one  fact  which  God  has  given  to  be  believed 
as  essential  to  salvation  about  which  the  religious 
world  has  any  controversy  ;  not  one  command  of 
God  given  to  be  obeyed  about  which  the  religious 
world  is  disagreed.  The  controversy  is  about 
something  else.  Things  believed  or  disbelieved, 
which  would  neither  shut  a  man  out  of  heaven 
nor  let  him  in,  are  what  (whether  true  or  false,  it 
matters  little)  have  been  discussed  until  the  spir- 
ituality of  the  church  has  well-nigh  fled.     That 


APPENDIX.  139 

faith  in  God  and  in  Jesus  Christ  as  his  only  begot- 
ten Son  is  needful  to  be  believed  none  doubt  for 
a  single  moment.  Whatever  else  may  be  required 
by  creeds,  this  truth  alone  has  power  to  save  the 
soul.  That  the  Spirit  does  convert  by  its  facts, 
control  by  its  laws  and  comfort  by  its  promises, 
none  will  or  can  deny  ;  that  the  Holy  Spirit  is 
promised  to  every  child  of  God  as  an  indwelling 
guest,  a  Comforter  to  abide  with  him  forever,  is 
beyond  dispute  ;  that  every  believing  penitent  or 
regenerate  person  ought  to  be  baptized  has  the 
united  testimony  of  all  who  acknowledge  the  di- 
vinity of  Christ  and  the  inspiration  of  the  Bible. 
The  dispute  is  whether  the  children  of  believing 
parents  shall  be  admitted  to  the  divine  ordinance. 
No  one  denies  that  believing,  penitent,  baptized 
persons  have  a  perfect  right  to  the  Lord's  house 
and  table.  The  question  in  dispute  is  whether 
the  unbaptized  can  claim  the  right.  Every  pro- 
fessed child  of  God  freely  admits  the  privilege, 
and  it  is  the  duty  of  every  one  to  examine  him- 
self. It  is  only  when  one  claims  the  right  to 
examine  others  that  the  spirit  of  controversy  is 
again   aroused. 

Once  more,  and  I  have  done.  The  whole 
religious  world,  in  one  grand  army,  lifts  up 
its  voice  with  one  accord,  and  says  that  the 
believing,  penitent,  baptized  person,  who  lives  a 
God-fearing,  Christ-loving,  alms-giving,  devout 
and  prayerful  life,  will  and  must  be  saved.  That 
all  such  will  be  gathered  with  the  blood-washed 
throng  at  last  in  the  peaceful  and  sinless  city  of 
our  God,  where  are  palms  of  victory  and  crowns 


140  APPENDIX. 

of  glory,  fadeless  and  bright,  even  the  Universalist 
himself  does  not  dispute  or  doubt.  Thus  we  find 
the  inspired  Paul,  in  his  letter  to  the  church  at 
Ephesus  (chapter  iv.  1—6),  giving  this  pathetic 
and  impressive  exhortation :  "  That  they  walk 
worthy  of  their  high  and  holy  calling,  in  lowli- 
ness and  meekness,  with  long-suffering,  bearing 
with  one  another  in  love,  endeavoring  to  keep  the 
unity  of  the  Spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace." 

'*  There  is  one  body  and  one  Spirit,  one  hope 
of  your  calling,  one  Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism, 
one  God  and  Father,  who  is  over  all,  through  all, 
and  in  all."  Here  are  the  seven  pillars  planted 
by  the  Head  of  the  Church,  strong  enough  and 
broad  enough  for  the  Church  of  Christ  to  rest 
upon,  and  whilst  the  ages  last  "  the  gates  of  hades 
shall  not  prevail  against  it."  All  who  have  the 
one  faith,  the  one  Lord,  and  have  been  baptized 
by  the  one  baptism  into  the  one  body — Christ 
(Gal.  iii.  27) — and,  because  in  the  one  body  (Gal. 
iv.  6),  have  received  the  one  Spirit  as  a  constant 
Comforter  and  an  ever-abiding  and  indwelling 
guest,  are  the  heirs  of  God  and  joint-heirs  with 
Christ  to  an  unfading  and  never- failing  patrimony. 

Do  not,  dear  brother,  barter  such  a  claim  for 
sectarian  pottage,  however  palatable  or  delicious, 
but  stand  in  the  full  liberty  of  the  children  of 
God  and  gospel  of  Christ,  "contend  earnestly 
for  the-  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints,"  and 
when  the  Master  comes  you  shall  enter  with  him 
to  the  "  marriage  supper  of  the  Lamb,"  to  enjoy 
all  God  has  promised  to  the  faithful. 

[Written  at  San  Francisco,  Cal.] 


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